Girl Talk at 3 a.m.

By Susan “Honey” Good

It is 2:40 am, my computer screen is illuminated and I am wide awake. America and my ultimate concierge are sound asleep. Stillness surrounds me but my mind is racing. My circumstances wake me up nightly. Five years ago, I slept for nine hours every night. My daily life, at that time, was full but it did not please me, so I changed my life and my sleep habits went along for the ride.

You see darlings, there are not enough hours in my day so I have to rely on the night. I am so busy that I am dizzy trying to keep up on all fronts.

Many nights I wake up with stories racing in my head. My enthusiasm is high, I am afraid that if I fall back asleep my writing will lose its substance.

Last night, six of us had dinner. The two women at the table are two of my dearest friends. When I woke up this morning, I thought about how happy I am in their company and decided to write about a true happening that took place a few years ago about girlfriends.

The Early Morning Hours

Have you ever wondered, darlings, how many of your friends are awake at three in the morning? Have you ever wondered about the amount of communication you can accomplish by sacrificing an hour of beauty sleep during the early morning hours?

I found out–a lot!

The online back and forth girl talk conversations that took place with seven of my closest friends in the wee hours of the morning will never leave me. I recall the chatter vividly, word by word, especially a quote written to me by my girlfriend Penelope.

Around 3:00 am, I found myself wide awake. I climbed out of bed so as not to disturb my husband, my ultimate concierge Shelly. Curled up on the couch with my pooch Orchid, I began typing emails to seven of my girlfriends. I was killing time and knew this would save me an hour or more with the back and forth the following day.

After finishing up the emails, I closed my laptop, opened an Architectural Digest and began scanning the pages. I love home decor.

Within minutes I heard my computer start talking to me–bing, bing, bing, bing, bing!

That’s my dear friend and a woman I regularly turn to for girl talk, Judy!

Birds of a Feather Talk Together

I reached for my laptop, opened it and could not believe my eyes. All seven of my friends were awake and returning emails. Not only were they wide-awake, but they were online too!

Smiling, I began to read each email. And then, I emailed them back, “I cannot believe you are up and emailing me! Why are you awake?”

All types of answers came back.

“I am nocturnal. I am up every night at this hour. Why are you awake?” asked one friend.

“I have house guests coming today and my mind is racing: where to go, what to do? Why are you up?” commented another girlfriend.

Yet another friend responded, “I have a back-ache from working out too hard. It woke me. Why are you up?”

“Call me. I will tell you!” My divorceé friend wrote back. She doesn’t have a sleeping husband to contend with. I called her back and we talked for an hour at 3:00 am!

“My husband is snoring so loudly! I hope my bags are from sleepless nights and not my age! So much fun to be emailing with you! Why are you up?” wrote another friend.

“I have jet lag. This is going to last for a few weeks! You must be jet-lagged, too? Is that why you are up?” asked another girlfriend who had recently been traveling.

In the course of the back and forth chatter between the six of us, I was left with the seventh email from Penelope. She wrote simply, “I love the silence of the night.”

From Girl Talk To Peaceful Reflection

Upon reading her words I felt my body relax and I went into a sublime ‘thinking mode.’ Why?

Because in our silence, we have the opportunity to listen to our mind churn out our thoughts. For me “the silence of the night” allows me to do some of my best thinking. It is hushed yet forceful and reflective; it often brings me into surprising, wonderful and necessary answers.

When you are burning the midnight oil, I suggest we all “love the silence of the night.” Glorious and introspective thoughts may result. It’s no surprise, darlings, we women are so busy by day that by night, as the world stills, our thoughts continue to race. This is why late night girl talk and the resulting tranquility are such a blessing!

Susan “Honey” Good is the founder of HoneyGood.com where this blog originally appeared. The site is a collection of lessons learned, life advice and insights from not only her, but from a fantastic group of contributing writers, each adding their own spice to the recipe. Honey Good.com representing “a family tree of women” — wives, mothers, daughters, granddaughters, mothers-in-law, daughters-in-law, sisters, aunts, cousins and girlfriends — coming together to talk about what makes them tick as well as what they have in common. Honey Good discusses life experiences with wisdom, humor and intellect, enabling all to attain a “Honey Good Style of Life.”