Today's entry has no number on account of the fact that I wasn't on air today. Neither was Lu. Or Guy or Leisha or any of the regulars. There was also no news, no traffic updates, no shows like ours and no ads played across the day.
Welcome to No Talk Day where we go silent for the day to encourage you to start talking.
STOP TALKING FOR A DAY
Yeah it's completely out of the ordinary isn't it, tuning into a breakfast show where no one is doing any talking. Weirder still waking up ready to go at 4:30 and having to remind myself that today was one of those truly rare occasions where the alarm wouldn't actually be heard until 7:30. I made it into work just before 9am, listening to all the back to back songs along the way, driving while the sun was fully up which I don't usually do until the weekends.
But this isn't my first rodeo in terms of this terrific initiative and having been a part of a couple now, I feel like the effect it has becomes stronger each and every time.
And given the crud we've all been through over the last couple of covid affected years, any reason to check in with your mates and start a conversation is a good reason.
REACH OUT, TODAY
Jump on the phone, send a text, swing by, bring coffee, touch base with people. If you've been waiting for a reminder to check in with loved ones well here it is - sometimes just a message of 'Hi' is just what someone needs to hear right now, knowing someone's thinking of them.
Additionally if you're not great with conversation or perhaps worried you might say the wrong thing, well there's plenty of help out there and a brilliant guide to getting things started through the Beyond Blue website.
That next conversation you have could be the most important in someone's life.
IT WAS A LONG ROAD
I experienced something like this a few years ago, before No Talk Day came around. I was working on R U Ok day (September 8) with a great buddy of mine and after hearing a few messages across the morning about the day and asking people if they were okay, I decided that's what I'd do - I turned the mics off, turned the music down and asked if he was okay.
He thought on things before replying: 'No. Actually, I'm not.'
'Okay, what's going on?'
And for the next ten minutes he let me know what was happening. The things he was struggling with, the stuff that was keeping him up at night and a couple of medical issues that were worrying. Then when he'd said his piece, he asked me the same question 'Hey, are you okay?'
And since he'd been so brutally honest, so was I. Some of it he may have had an inkling of (we'd been working together for a couple of years by then) and there was plenty that he didn't know - my son was just a couple of months old and wasn't sleeping, so I wasn't sleeping. My wife was struggling with post natal depression and I'd been trying to steer her through some dark days while trying to keep myself in check. Money was tight and the job wasn't going anywhere.
I was hating on quite a few things and wasn't a happy guy at all but I'd become pretty good at hiding that fact to anyone and everyone around me...well, until someone asked with honest sincerity.
And while it didn't change much of the situation we found ourselves in (we're all in a far better space now), what it did do was reinforce that someone genuinely gave a shit. And talking through some of the bad stuff put things into perspective. We also became better attuned to each other and the bad days became easier to spot which helped so much when people would ask me 'Hey what's going on with your friend?' 'He's dealing with some stuff at the moment, but he's working on it.'
We also checked in with each other a lot more because of it.
And all because we asked the question and didn't hide anything from the answer.
No matter what day it is, isn't it time you asked or checked in with a mate?
Regular programming resumes tomorrow.
Chat to you then
-Almigo
Comments
Post a Comment