tuning out

Every once and a while i do a piece on connecting.  i usually detail some method we can all use to get closer to nature, get closer to each other or something we can use to try to get along.  i like to talk about how some do it naturally while others have to work hard at slowing down and tuning in.  i write about others lucky like me who realize most of the time they are connected and only notice the other world when something happens to disturb the tranquility.

Well this week my neighbor has been bulldozing a new driveway access.  The contractor brought up two heavy bulldozers that are either hard at work or idling during down time all day long, starting at the crack of dawn.  The neighbor was kind enough to warn us ahead of time that they would be working and that they hoped it wasn't going to be too much of a bother.  All of us neighbors said no problem, we understand, we won't cause any problems without really comprehending what the distraction would mean in real terms.

Noisy is not an apt description to describe the top of the hills new reality.  The heavy equipment squeaks, squeals, sounds like grating metal with high pitched chalk board sounds and it blocks out any other natural sound with its overly loud engine roar. To say it has disturbed the wild life and myself and the rest of the neighborhood is the least of it.

For over a week now every time the driver spends some down time thinking about the job or just taking a break we all breath a sigh of relief.  Everything gets a little quieter, you can hear the birds, hear the wind, and listen to the pleasant roar of the ocean over the idling engine.

When he gets back to work the dogs give me this long lingering look as if to say, "What!  Its not over yet, you mean we still have to suffer through this excruciating noise, can't you stop it."  i try to tell them with my eyes that when four o'clock rolls around all will go quiet and peace will reign, but they don't believe me.

The reality of this noise has added another dimension to our lives and to thinking about people who live with noise on a daily basis.   How in the world do they cope?

Living in the islands we are blessed with a fairly noise free environment.  It isn't something we contemplate too often unless our day to day living is impacted, like it is now.  But if you live in a city or an urban environment that is heavily populated long lasting noise can have harmful affects on your health.  It can endanger ones life, destroy the ability to hear, and add levels of stress that can create disease.

Noise comes at us from all directions, road traffic, airline noise, indoor and outdoor neighborhood noise and of course natural noise that can also cause problems.  Scientists studying the effect of noise have realized problems with your heart, tinnitus, hearing loss, cognitive impairment, general annoyance and sleep disturbance can be directly linked to high levels of noise.

One study has shown that noise distraction can be more harmful to introverted students than to extroverted students when it comes to study time. Introverted students can experience more difficulty understanding what they are reading in a noisy environment, making failure a real outcome.  Sometimes we don't realize how much background noise can affect our performance in general.

At work, open offices have been shown in two recent studies to clearly show that loud speech distraction is rated by employees as the No. 1 problem that affects their satisfaction and productivity. The two most prominent office acoustical problems are excess speech noise distraction, and a lack of protection for confidential conversations in private offices.  Noise makes workers very unhappy and less productive.

Believe it or not there is a society called the Noise Abatement Society in England that raises awareness and finds solutions to protect, improve and respect the aural landscape for the public benefit, wildlife and marine life.  Now celebrating its 50th year, the Society was established in 1959 by John Connell OBE who successfully lobbied the Noise Abatement Act through Parliament in 1960, establishing noise as a statutory nuisance for the first time.

Luckily, i may only have to suffer through the noise for another week.  If i had to live with a steady stream of traffic noise, sirens, loud music from cars etc. and a whole host of other noises i would definitely go bonkers.

This past week has made me think that maybe some hearing loss is not such a bad thing when bombarded on a daily basis.  Imagine how satisfying life could be if while being blasted with any kind of excruciating noise you could just reach up to your hearing aid and turn it off.




Spend some time listening, tune in to the noise in your life and see how you might reduce it, it could make you healthy.