Make Your Own Music... Sorta

[kyra_ojosverdes]

I'm a fidgeter. If I am ever completely still, it is because I am:
a) utterly exhausted
b) asleep
c) really scared
d) concentrating on holding completely still.

Even as I fall asleep I move my foot back and forth against the sheet because the repetitive motion is soothing and helps move my brain to "sleep" instead of "process thirty-five million things and solve this problem and what about that and make lists of what I need to do tomorrow and dammit I forgot to send that e-mail and..."

Today I am wearing my jingly bellydancer anklet.

When I sit at a desk, unless I make a conscious effort to keep my feet flat on the floor, my toes and the ball of my foot rest on the floor, my heel is in the air, and my knees are bouncing up and down at a fairly rapid rate. (The harder I concentrate or the faster I type, the faster my knees bounce.)

My coworkers have gotten used to this and no longer ask "what's the weird ringing sound??" Instead they say "Oh, you're wearing your jingly anklet today!" (Note that if I shared an office with someone I'd refrain from wearing anything jingly, for fear of being stabbed with a letter opener or succumbing to a mysterious stapler accident.)

Comments

[7leaguebootdisk.livejournal.com]

My doc (for ADD, has been treating adult ADD for 30 years), says there is not really non hyperactive ADD, just how it is expressed. The sort of things you talk about here art typical.

[kyra-ojosverdes.livejournal.com]

That makes sense.

[marialuminous.livejournal.com]

*jiggles foot*

[kyra-ojosverdes.livejournal.com]

LOL... anytime I sit with my legs crossed, my free foot is, at the very least, jiggling. More often the entire lower leg is bouncing up and down.

People used to ask "Why are you jiggling your foot?" Huh? The question is why would I stop jiggling my foot? Having my foot in motion is the default condition. It doesn't mean I'm nervous. Twisting my fingers or twisting things around my fingers means I'm nervous. Foot jigglilng means I'm conscious. ;-)

[marialuminous.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's the default position for me too. I hardly ever notice it unless someone mentions it, like you just did with your post. You made me stop and look at my own foot, and wonder how long it's been doing that today.

[kyra-ojosverdes.livejournal.com]

It does get humorous when I'm standing somewhere... in line or something... and the expected behavior is "standing still." You know, with your feet flat on the floor, not moving until it's time to step forward.

I've given up trying to stand still. I rock back and forth on my feet, take small steps forward and back, shift my weight so my body is moving but my feet are mostly still. It helps if there's music so I can sort of pretend that the music is why I'm swaying and moving. It's not, but people seem less weirded out if they can interpret my movements as dancing to audible music. ;-)

[tigermorph.livejournal.com]

Stapler accidents... yes... there might just be one of those around here really soon.....

[sweet-byrd.livejournal.com]

Even as I fall asleep I move my foot back and forth against the sheet because the repetitive motion is soothing and helps move my brain to "sleep" instead of "process thirty-five million things and solve this problem and what about that and make lists of what I need to do tomorrow and dammit I forgot to send that e-mail and..."

Yeah, I do that too. So does Mike (though less often) -- it makes the foot of our bed an interesting hunting ground for a certain nocturnally restless kitty.

[samvimes.livejournal.com]

I too am a fidgeter. I've heard it suggested that people who fidget have higher metabolisms and thus tend to be thinner and healthier.