Dancing With Myself

Lucus was away this week and I hosted the morning show alone. In his absence, I learned three very important things about myself.

1. Waking up at 5 am is the same for me as waking up at 7 am, which is the same as waking up at 10am, which is the same as noon. I am going to be grumpy and non-responsive for the first hour I am awake, so might as well rise early.
2. If I have no one to talk to I am going to talk to myself.
3. When I talk to myself, I argue. A lot.

First thing’s first: yes. This happened live. I pre-recorded myself saying a few things and triggered them to respond to myself on the air. But mostly it was live Daynee on Daynee action. I could have pre-recorded the entire segments, but let’s be honest. When you turn on the radio, it’s kind of nice to have an actual living, breathing, human being (or two) coming out of the speakers keeping you company as you move about through the hustle and bustle of your morning routine. In the very least, knowing there’s a real person at the other end of those speakers makes you feel a little less alone.

Silence can be scary. On our own time it’s fine (and perhaps encouraged) to seek solitude and listen to ourselves, but when you’re on the air that’s not really an option. We don’t want dead air.

Sometimes it takes the absence of something or someone to understand yourself a little better. Your contradictions, your quirks, your strengths, your faults, the little things that others notice about you but are somehow out of your peripheral vision. When you have no one but yourself to project these bit of you, you may find yourself learning something new.

Communicating with others is often about compromise; what is appropriate to say to whom and when. However, when you are communicating with yourself, these rules don’t apply the same way because it’s all happening in your head.

What do you talk to yourself about when others are listening?

Thankfully, most people don’t ever have to ask themselves this question.

On the air I talked to myself about silly things and important things, about things that made me happy and things that bothered me. I complimented myself. I poked fun at myself. And I did it with everyone listening. Was it weird? Oh, yeah. Would I do it again? Definitely. I got enough positive feedback on these segments to think there might be a future somewhere for Daynee Squared. So what did people have to say?

Where is Daynee number two now? Put her on the phone!

I am out of coffee so I will ask my second self to brew more for me.

What day is it?

My kitchen stove is not telling me the right time.

My other self doesn’t want to talk to me right now. Hi.

I’m dancing right now!

I’d like to request a song for Saturday. We Are the World? The new version?

Was I alone after all? I guess not. Whenever people call to tell me about their days or ask me the most random questions, it reminds me just how many people I am sharing my day with. Daynee and Daynee are alone in the studio, but hanging out with western Alaska for four hours every day.