I hate noise. I know… hate is a strong word and I don’t use it lightly, but I really do hate noise.
Unnecessary noise – nails tapping on keyboards, blind cords dangling in the breeze of an open window. Someone eating or chewing gum with an open mouth, cuff links sliding back and forth across a desk – My tolerance is low.
I know part of it comes from sensory overload, the same low tolerance extends to even elective “noise” when I have a lot to process. This is self-evident when I reach to silence the car stereo whilst trying to navigate new places and there is a need to concentrate, even with songs I would otherwise have blasting out the windows.
There is a section of a meditation routine I picked up where you learn not just to accept, but actually pay attention to the noises that are outside of your control, on the basis that acceptance steps you past the irritation and distraction.
That’s fine when I’m specifically taking time out to stop thinking but when I’m working and trying to juggle numerous thoughts in my head the last thing I have capacity for is auditory distraction.
I’ll endeavour to mitigate this with headphones where possible; music is generally fine if I’m trying to suppress the drone of air-conditioning, or the over-exuberant chatting of colleagues in the open plan office (more talk of which will undoubtedly follow in the future.) however it’s not always appropriate.
Do you feel the same? Is there some auditory or other major irritation that triggers you from an otherwise calm disposition? Let me know.
More music and less ranting tomorrow.
Donovan