Considering a short vow of silence for my mental health etc.

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[quote="_cora_] But it will be good to retreat in happiness instead of anxiety or anger.[/quote]

This sounds excellent to me. See the word I bolded.

You could try texting your parents something like (and I’m just throwing this out there):

I’m trying a New Year’s Day experiment for one day of communication only with text and sign. This means that from 7 am to 9 pm (or whatever time) I will not be speaking with my mouth. At 9 pm (or whatever time,) I will resume speech. This means a lot to me and I hope you can enjoy the day with me.

Emphasizing the positives, letting them know your plans (ie, when you will start talking again) and assuring them of your love could help move them in a positive direction. These are just some thoughts, for you to take or leave, as only you know what applies to you.

They may react negatively no matter what you do. You can’t control their reactions.

BTW, I agree with the other posters about your plans and processes here. You are amazing!

Texting her now. Nervous af, I feel like I'm gonna explode.

I hope it all goes well.

Is it fine if I accidentally talk a couple times? Like earlier I accidentally started saying "no!" repeatedly because I was working on a bracelet and all the beads fell off...
Does it still count as an official vow of silence if I end up yelling out a few things accidentally?
For my experiences so far, it seems kind of strange, and more normal than I thought it would. I guess I thought I would feel completely different than how I normally do, but I really don't. It is highlighting things that I already know, though, like how I'm basically the only one that ever breaks the silence in our house. Also, I am starting to realize that I am more mindful by default than most people. I am usually not thinking of other things during conversation, and am just listening. It's also nice to think before I talk, or write, because usually my voice is just an automatic force, that says words I don't even know the meaning of.
So far, I'm not really uncovering anything negative about myself, mostly positives.

"communication" euphemism for noise pollution

Most precious lil "people" talk too much and too loud and there are too many of them

Most precious lil "people" act so enthusiastic, like every thought and emotion that goes through their head is the latest greatest scientific invention

When garbage comes out of my beak, precious lil "people" half listen and then grunt "huh" and "what" like they are the etiquette equivalent of "excuse me"

Talking serves a function sometimes

Some situations, silence is more justified than talking

Talking is overrated

There are just not that many things to sit around flapping their traps about

Great stuff, according to the rules it's okay for some absolute or necessary talking. Telling the beads to quit dropping was essential to make the bracelet.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vow_of_silence

Interesting that Ghandi did it every Monday.

Okay, I think I learned a few things from this experience:
1. Charging your social energy, even when half of your brain doesn't want you to, can make you more motivated to interact with people and can kind of reset your social battery.
2. For some reason, I am the designated talker of the family, so when I am not filling the silence with my nonstop useless chatter (I've known it was not important nor necessary for a while now, it's kind of like... oh!)
3. Nonstop talking is actually one of my stims. I don't do it alone, because I can't talk to myself, but I for sure do it around my family a lot. When I stopped all of that completely, I wanted to stim in other ways more.
4. Sometimes something you think sounds crazy is something you can actually do!
5. Sometimes having such an overly positive attitude about something that you annoy yourself can actually be just enough positivity to rub off on other people.
6. Parents in a good mood will be much more supportive than you think. Luckily, they seemed to be in a good mood. Or maybe that was just my positivity rubbing off on them!

Excellent, Cora!