Over the last couple of years, I have come to realize that I am overly sensitive to sound. I think it’s near disability levels.
We are at my wife’s parents for the holiday and it’s too loud for me here. Both brothers in law are *really loud*, the parents are constantly making noise (whistling and so on), even the house makes noises (radiators, water hammers, grandfather clock). I had a job doing research and was asked to work in an open office and couldn’t think at all. After FIRE, being at home has become harder since I am around when the laundry goes bonkers, when the dishwasher is on (it’s near silent except my wife never plugs the drains), when the leaf blowers and chain saws come out, etc.
I think some of this is situational: with other families I’ve been to, it’d be just fine, but this one just happens to be very loud (and it’s been 25 years so none of that’s going to change) and if I lived away from suburban lawns, I would at least be able to avoid the leaf blowers, but I’ve sunk a huge amount of effort into my house (I know, who cares) and my kids are in the school district (that’s more serious).
My therapist tells me to take mindfulness classes (I did, helped a little not much), I have noise cancelling headphones on now with music and am in the bedroom with the door shut, but that hardly is social.
Queue the jolly posts about how I just need to blast a noise synth at them (actually I got into eurorack to provide background sound in my office while I worked) because it’s muffwiggler (add a few who will say this doesn’t exist), but has anyone found any sort of therapy or book worthwhile?
I do go to a float tank once a week, it’s pricey, but it’s heaven.