Enter Noise Sensitive People

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

When the lady who is sitting across of you in the train starts to divulge details of the great times she had with so-and-so who was a hunk, at a party in some fancy place near the beach - on the freaking phone to some very equally noisy friend on the other line out loud, you wish she would just shut up for once, you are not alone.

When the dude who has been quietly reading the papers behind you suddenly let out a monstrous mother of a raspy cough that nearly makes you fall and your tongue just wants to roll out of your mouth, you wish you could just scream out loud just to shock him with a noisy counter attack, you are not alone.

When the bus out on the street gloriously release a heart-attack inducing honk as a ridiculous gesture of acknowledgement to another fellow bus driver on the road, you nearly throw your umbrella into one of the tires, you are not alone.

When a runny-nosed child keeps on screaming on end because of some unheeded request and his equally strange mother thinks it is even smart to ignore her precious offspring in the supermarket, you wish you don’t have to be a pain but you’ve already started giving the get-your-child-to-calm-down cow look, you are not alone.

Everyday, people are assaulted by noises that can reduce their quality of life. Some with sensitive hearing have it even worse. It is not that we do not appreciate this gift of hearing, we really do but we are also harmed by it. Some have also resorted to self-imposed temporary deafness by the use of earplugs.

Some have succumbed to their deepest rage and become a source of noise pollution themselves. On my good days I have been known to graciously transcend the little annoyances. However noises on bad days can be headache-inducing. It depends on how I direct my focus of attention. It is a matter of context.

I realized if you’re focused on something, the sound intruders get sucked into the background, kind of like the sound coming from the TV that's hushed into a layer in the back of your mind while you work on your favourite art, exercise or write. It’s easy to feel as though people don’t get your case of sensitive hearing, but I can say you are not strange at all.

Like there are people who can't stand long stretches of silence, you and me, my friend have ears that are not made to stand a constant stimulation of audio waves. On the other hand, if you're still feeling under the weather not particularly because of the weather, let me direct you to one of the most witty and motivational pieces online : Four Things You Are Not, written by the kind and wise author, BothEyeShut.

Before I end this rant about one of our most amazing senses, I highly recommend you to read my pieces about my own vivid experiences through my ears – as weird as it might sound – and how it can be a meditative one.

The Sound Experience Of The Un-deaf - A piece about the sounds that I hear in the wee hour of the morning and their meditative effects.

The Morning Auditory Experience - My photoblog piece at Fame Cherry to take you with me on my auditory journey.

Image Credit by Order of Appearance

noisecomplaint.blogspot.com

livingelectro.com

nataliedee.com

megangulick.com

nataliedee.com