Given my personality, one would imagine that easy silences come easily to me. By an easy silence, I mean being in the presence of someone without saying a word and not feeling awkward about it. It has taken me a long time to be comfortable with easy or neutral silences. Maybe it is my Indian upbringing or, more likely, it is my discomfort with being unsocial that I feel the need to pretend otherwise. I have initiated conversations on a number of occasions that I later wished I hadn't, either because they were boring or my conversation partner said something that annoyed me, possibly without meaning to.
However, I have learnt that a smile and a 'hello' is all one needs to establish civility or even cordiality. One of my housemates and I share easy silences, and it has taken some getting used to. But, now that I am used to it, I love it. I don't like uneasy silences, and it is easy to tell them apart because we communicate so much through our facial expressions and body language.
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