There's one thing that I strongly dislike that I'm constantly hearing...that I'm quiet. Now before anyone says "well maybe you should stop being so quiet then," let me finish. I hate being called quiet but more than that I hate what people mean when they say it.

People aren't saying that to remind me of what I already know. If they were, it would come out completely different. When people tell me I’m quiet they're saying it because they feel like I need to talk more. They're judging my character and basically saying I need to change it. I don't have to though and more than that I don't want to. Here’s why:

Everyone around me is already doing enough talking so why can't I just listen? Why do words have to be said in order for me to be considered fun or an awesome person to be around.

I like being "quiet" and I like what it means. Being quiet, to me, means I listen more and understand more about you than you'll probably ever understand about me. Being quiet means I pay attention. I notice the eye rolls people give their enemies and I notice the way your eye twitches every time you lie. Being quiet means I can read people better because I've watched their mannerisms. I don't just believe their words. Of course words are important as well, but I think that a lot more can be said without them. You can learn a lot about a person by simply paying attention and, honestly, just keeping your mouth shut.

Then there’s the fact that some people think every situation needs a reaction which okay, maybe you’re right, but I’m going to have to disagree with that. All my life I’ve been told that I have this “I don’t care” attitude because of the way I react to things and normally it’s followed by a remark on me being quiet about the situation. But here’s the thing, I save my reactions. I’ve learned that I don’t need to react right away because most of the time my reaction is going to be way more dramatic directly after the situation. If I wait it out, I can think about it and maybe come up with a solution instead of just adding to the problem.

Basically people are saying being quiet is a bad thing, but why can't you look at it differently? I've realized that if I can sit in silence with someone and we both feel content with that then to me that's a great relationship, friendship or otherwise. I love the quiet. I love being in a room and it's filled with nothing but silence. And I know that quiet rooms are awkward for some people, but just in the same way that quiet is awkward for them, well, loudness is like that for me.

Silence or being quiet, that's a magical thing in itself. Being able to notice the little things about people when you're sitting there being quiet, to me that's all I need in order to know a person. Of course I can't get everything that way, but I can get a glimpse of the person that I probably would have never gotten or noticed by just talking.

Maybe I’m wrong and maybe being quiet is a bad thing, but I think I turned out pretty well for a being the “quiet”one.