I'm hypersensitive to sound. It's a unique and unfortunate side effect of working in an isolated and intensively silent workplace. I can't sleep if someone is doing the dishes or has the television on. I struggle to concentrate if someone is walking upstairs. It's as if being immersed in death during business hours makes the presence of life and living during rest time an overwhelming stimulation.
With this in mind, you can imagine that the particularities of share house living presents me with a few challenges. I can control what tunes I play in the mortuary and if I have the overhead exhaust fan running, but I cannot constrain my housemates to when they take a shower or watch the latest episode of Game of Thrones. Normal evening activities carry the noises of our bustling interchange and lately I've found myself fitting in an episode of mild neurosis before bed time.
Luckily, I live with three of the most understanding and approachable individuals on the planet. They fill our home with a warmth and abundance that eases my upset. Even if I flip out, they'll be there to flip me back in. And then they'll have a beer and some pringles with me afterwards.
Thanks friends. I love you guys, like real love but not the sexy kind. I'm buying us all Japanese slippers until I work through this.
Peace. x
I'm very sensitive to noise too. One strategy I use is to hang blackout drapes in the doorways of my home on little tension rods. It's inexpensive, removable, and it really cuts down on sound travel between rooms.
ReplyDeleteI also have several "sound soother" machines, which are just little round dealies that make a noise kind of like a fan. They also help to cover noise, and you can get them online if you like - assuming that you can handle white noise, which some people can't.
When all else fails, I use some bluetooth headphones and play something soothing like Hemi-Sync to block out the noise.
I hope you find something that works for you! I know how annoying it can be! :)