Some research for a client prompted this blog and having read this article http://workplaceinsight.net/problems-with-noise-at-work-a-lot-of-it-is-in-our-heads/ it got me thinking about how noise impacts our lives. It is interesting how we have become immune to the loudness of life around us, particularly in urban areas. Traffic, transportation, people on their phones, technology, clonking of machinery, busy offices, busy open plan offices all add to an overload of sound. Some of us become accustomed to this and others do not and too much noise can have an impact on our overall well being without realising it.
Before moving to France I found myself becoming quite noise intolerant. I would literally wince as my brain bandwidth twanged against intrusive noise. Was noise pollution having an effect on me, or am I just a naturally sound sensitive individual? I own up to the fact that I have never enjoyed the sound of a ticking clock which becomes more apparent when trying to sleep, or shutting out the hum of technology. As a tinnitus suffer, neither of these irritants exist in the sleeping quarters.
Before moving to France I found myself becoming quite noise intolerant. I would literally wince as my brain bandwidth twanged against intrusive noise. Was noise pollution having an effect on me, or am I just a naturally sound sensitive individual? I own up to the fact that I have never enjoyed the sound of a ticking clock which becomes more apparent when trying to sleep, or shutting out the hum of technology. As a tinnitus suffer, neither of these irritants exist in the sleeping quarters.
I really appreciate the lower levels of noise here in France. I love the sound of silence and Monday to Friday work hours are always conducted in silence. My office at the front of the house overlooks a country lane flanked by woodland and my back garden is also green and flanked by woodland. I live on a busy road which is well travelled during the day. I live between two towns... towns by French standards not by English and 18km connects the two. So yes, lorries, school buses and traffic pass through. There are country sounds, mowers as people cut their large gardens, wood cutting tools, these are appreciated as being part of country life and are not too regular to be intrusive. I have become accustomed to timing the day with sounds of traffic. At 7.40 the school bus will honk a little further along the road for the local children. At 10.30am the tyres of La Poste will crunch on the gravel opposite me everyday to deliver the neighbours post. I recognise the sound of the local farmers tractor and the sound of hubbies van as he approaches the driveway gates each day, as do my 2 jack russell terriers.
The sounds of nature have replaced urban sounds and it is much more pleasant on my sensitive ears. A holiday with hubby to Barcelona last October, the complete opposite of where I live, was testament to how far removed we are from noise pollution and that living in the country is much kinder to our overall well being.
Have you given thought to the sounds around you? What do you notice? Does your work environment impact your well being?
Yours socially
Micala
The sounds of nature have replaced urban sounds and it is much more pleasant on my sensitive ears. A holiday with hubby to Barcelona last October, the complete opposite of where I live, was testament to how far removed we are from noise pollution and that living in the country is much kinder to our overall well being.
Have you given thought to the sounds around you? What do you notice? Does your work environment impact your well being?
Yours socially
Micala
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