I live in a rural village.
Pastoral.
Rustic.
Serene.
well-not exactly.
I am surrounded by neighbors that aren’t exactly big fans of peace and quiet.
While I seem to have an acute problem with noise.
I am fully aware that they are the “normal people”‘ I am the problematic one +that I sound like an old nag.
Being aware is 50% of success!!
Now-just to make things even clearer- here are some tedious facts:
The neighbors to my left– have 7 (!) kids, some of them grown up with friends, and since my neighbors had to build a pool in their back yard, almost every day during summer time, they feel an urge to start shouting by the pool, while grilling meat (in an open barbecue- so as not to miss any of the fun of inhaling the stinky smoke) while playing music on the (loud) loudspeakers.
The neighbors in the back side of my garden- have only 3 girls, but the girls are teenagers, and very keen on karaoke .
They seem to believe they have a good voice and a good sense of rhythm, quite contrary to the actual truth.
Quite often, they start quarreling and calling each other names and stuff not appropriate for a proper blogger such as I to repeat.
The neighbors next to the ones in the back– own 2 organic food shops.
You would expect them to appreciate the sounds of silence- but the man seems to think he can manage his shop from afar- thus having long and loud phone conversations , that are well heard due to strange acoustics in their house.
The neighbors to my right– have 2 young kids, and I really thought I hit the jackpot when she told me she is into meditation and teaches bibliotherapy.(oh- and yesterday I heard her telling a potential client on the phone that before the biblio part (or side by side to it) she assesses the feet.
But- she seems to be enjoying a unique kind of meditation technique, where you keep talking loudly and giving orders to your family members- while in deep meditation.
The neighbors across the street used to be really quiet, until a month ago they decided their 23 year old son has to open a pizza place in their garage, thus having all the kids in the village-and some grown ups too- happily (and loudly) “going out for pizza” in my neighbors garage.
Teens these days seem to be very opinionated on various subjects, and where I live they seem to believe that he who speaks the loudest- is automatically right.
I would be quite miserable if it weren’t for my best friends:
I have no idea what brand the earplugs are, and I don’t believe I have enough knowledge to recommend a certain kind of headphones.needles (I hope its needless!) to say that I have no shares in the earplug-headphone industry, just in case you were suspicious .
I truly believe I am not meant to live in agony of any kind, and I also believe there is always a way . as long as you have the will to find it.
Since I go to sleep early (between 20:00 pm and 21:00 pm, on good days- even 19:00 is a good time to lay my head) and the pizza parlor-karaoke singing-pool shouting- store management- active meditation -is still going on, I simply shove my blue buddies into my ears and give myself the much needed peace and tranquility. ( I always sleep with my windows open, even in winter time I open a bit).
During the day, I listen to my classical music in my living room/kitchen, or in my room using my headphones’ and nothing can bother me.the corded headphones and bluetooth ones are for running+working out+working in the garden.
If, by any chance, you seem to “enjoy” the same kind of “lively” neighborhood -get yourself a pair of earplugs, and if ‘ by any chance- you have a musical ear and the sound really does make a difference to you -do yourself favor and get a good pair of headphones, and try listening to music on a PC -as opposed to cell phone or even Ipad.
You will thank me later- it makes a huge difference.
No use in getting upset/angry/going over there to give them a piece of your mind.
You need to believe me on this one- since I tried all the above, to no avail.
“SERENITY NOW!” (Frank Costanza).
The cooliflower.
