Talking to yourself

[ArmyOfOne1911]

I always wondered... Do you find yourself talking to yourself alot? And then catch yourself and wonder why you are having a conversation with yourself? I do this often... It can be short things... Or long things... Does anybody know what causes this? I find it quite humorous at times, but others I think I may overdue it... It's something really hard to control though. I know this is pretty normal but I am starting to wonder why I do it alot. It's a pretty common thing with me.

Thanks guys!

[Stookie_]

I've read that talking to yourself can be a good thing, and apparently a lot of people do it. It externalizes inner thoughts and you can look at them a bit more objectively. But it's not good if you're saying negative things, having arguments with yourself, or conversing as separate personalities.

[Rudolph]

Bing "Self talk" and you'll find a lot on this.


http://positiveselftalk.com/
"Maximum Strength Positive Thinking tells you what to say when your mind talks to you, and what to say when you talk to your mind."

[Chris J.]

When I'm doing something that requires a lot of thought, I tend to start saying what I'm thinking. It seems to make it easier to remember what I was just thinking.

[Lionheart]

 Your "inner voice" is there for a reason. Sometimes guidance, sometimes a warning. Feel free to converse with yourself when you wish. There is nothing at all wrong with this and this will actually give you a better understanding of who you are yourself. 

[ZiggyMike]

But, i have come to understand that the thoughts or conversation you have during normal waking consciousness are just many parts of your ego projecting almost endless possibilities, sometimes it can be biased and unreasonable, depending on the amount of internal chatter of your ego mind. True insight can be achieved or attained when one quiets these chatter, through meditation and of cause sleep. And right before sleep, if you have learnt how to do it, you can hear the advices and admonitions of you higher self, but for some reason, if you dont stay long enough you literally forget what it was.

[Contenteo]

If you can't talk to yourself, how would you ever expect to successfully talk to other people?

Cheers,
Contenteo

[Szaxx]

Well, you could try using the language of the tongues.

[embrace]

Talking to yourself can turn into talking to your subconscious mind, and that's pretty valuable skill!

[ZiggyMike]

Embrace! I think you are on to something here

[linemile]

I've talked to myself since, well... forever. Just like any other person. Perhaps a bit more often, since I'm so introverted. 

An interesting observation though. I've never been one for much meditation, but I remember this one time I sat in the shower and did some light meditation for not even ten minutes. Ever since then, I have a new kind of voice. It's quite faint, and very calm, and 'speaks' pretty much only when I think of philosophical matters. It always seems to come up with clever metaphors and drawn-out expressions that my everyday mode of thinking would never be able to smoothly think through like that. I call it my 'philosophy voice'. XD

It's just a different 'mode' of thinking, really. It's me that's still thinking stuff up, it just 'sounds' a bit different.That bit of spiritual focus really did the trick, though.

The whole matter of different voices and talking to yourself is a bit of a concern to me, to be honest. I find myself worrying that if I focus too much on all of these different 'voices' and 'modes' I think with, coupled with my interest in Spirit Guides (which talk to you in your head and your dreams), when do you draw the line between a fascinating psychological phenomenon / Spiritual connection, and downright paranoid schizophrenia? Both are just you talking to yourself and assuming different inner aliases. What is the difference? I feel that if I try too hard to delve into the mechanics of awareness, consciousness, spirits that communicate in your subconscious / conscious mind, etc etc etc, I would eventually be unable to differentiate myself from a stark raving lunatic. Silly, I know, but it seems that all of these different phenomenon just end up pointing to a mental patient with three personalities and a couple of spirits that talk to him in his head.

Summary: as much as consciousness, subconsciousness, Spirit Guides, and OBEs interest me, where does one draw the line between communing with spirits and having multiple bodies, and paranoia / schizophrenia / bipolar disorder? Doesn't hearing voices in your head that aren't yours make you schizophrenic? How does one ever tell the difference if you ever come into contact with other beings that have no way to prove them selves as an entity beyond your own subconscious mind? What do you think? Am I crazy already? XD

[Chrysocolla]

I talk with myself all the time. I also argue with myself all the time, whether joking or legit arguing. I sometimes almost feel like the people arguing are exactly that, two different people. If I were looking for what my actual side was it would sometimes be hard to decide what side im actually on.

[Rudolph]

Doesn't hearing voices in your head that aren't yours make you schizophrenic?

No.

How does one ever tell the difference if you ever come into contact with other beings that have no way to prove them selves as an entity beyond your own subconscious mind? What do you think? Am I crazy already? XD

I would guess that about 99% of the time anything encountered is an aspect of one's own subconscious.