Published on 12, July, 2020
Up until now, noise did not appear to bother me. Now, I am becoming more upset/triggered/bothered by noise. At work (teacher) I am fine, but at home, with two young and often noisy children, I am constantly on edge with noise. Today the noise almost pushed me into meltdown, but lying flat on the floor helped.
What makes this more baffling for me is I love spending spending time listening to loud music through headphones, which I am doing as I type!
Noises I actively dislike are motorbikes passing by, cars backfiring, high pitched noises, multiple conversations happing at once, to name but a few.
I never used to be like this. I am contemplating some earplugs, like Loops, to shut out the sound.
Frequency, acoustics, level, wiring, all the electronics and physics surrounding how sound is produced play a role. The ones you've described are getting worse in society. Multiple conversations in an open park aren't invasive or frustrating. But in a closed space with poor acoustics? It can be noticeably problematic.
Further, almost everything conducts sound like a speaker, from water to walls. But depending on the material some are more pleasant than others. I think back to those carpeted basements we were sent to play in when a child. Probably a great container for sound!
That's a great point - the world is so much less carpeted and cushioned these days. It's all hardwood floors and mimimalism in many a home. None of it helping to take the edge of an ever-noisier planet.