Complicit CacophonUS: "It's getting noisy around here!!!"

On the road again, to and fro, sights and sounds: "Where's everybody going...all at the same time...don't they know I've got somewhere to be...what's that awful, harsh noise that I haven't heard for a year or so?!" Sound familiar, any of these? Many others could be added to this list, I'm sure. Questions associated with the sudden awareness of what has actually been a gradual build-up, a gradual return to work and other activities (let alone school, the sound of buses, OMG!) that were either curtailed altogether or conducted more from home, the collective of which resulted in a reduction in millions of miles of annual driving within and between our "United" States. With a corresponding reduction in road noise as well as road rage. Now these are both on the rise again and boy, are we noticing -- that it's "all of them" making the noise, despite the fact that we must be out there too, if we are noticing. So, are we actually part of the problem....?

Sensory awareness, deprivation, overload...Goldilocks all over again! Seems like we just can't be pleased, or maybe it's just that we haven't found the 'sweet spot' yet. And when/if we do, seems like we have a hard time hanging on to it. Maybe I'm just a little OCD, what do ya think Goldie; what do ya think Goldie...? Whether it's the sense of sight, sound, or touch, early in the pandemic some of us found ourselves either sensory deprived, yearning for more contact (one "love language" is physical touch), or in too close proximity for our own comfort. Took a while to get it right, to find that sweet spot in each area, and then, just when we got comfortable, the "Three Bears" show up in the form of "return to work", etc. From under- to over-stimulated...help me out here Goldie...

Crickets! "Turn down the radio": "Nobody's answering, nobody seems to be there, all I hear is crickets!" A refrain circa early pandemic times...to "Wow, I can actually hear and enjoy the sound of crickets in the backyard" as we assimilated...to "Turn down the radio; I can't see!" as we found ourselves more in the company of others, driving father than just the corner grocery store. Competing drives, competing senses, competing priorities, competing tastes...let alone competition for the lane I'm trying to drive in after feeing like 'king of the road' for months, not having to share the road with all of these %@#&*^!  Now I'm reduced to being just 'one in a million'...

Sense able/defense able - anticipation, habituation...destination: As we all weather the next chapter(s) in this journey back to (semi?) normal, the return to work, school, sports venues, restaurants even, we will all go through various stages...from being anxious with anticipation (many of you have shared "what am I gonna do when I see all these live people?" in school or the office after being away for so long ("overwhelmed, defenses overrun!")...to allowing ourselves enough time and exposure to finally get used to it to the point of being relatively unfazed, the process of habituation ("the diminished physiological or emotional response to a frequently repeated stimulus...or people"), we will all be closer to our final destination. 

So we all need to try and not be "so defensive!"  After all, "Patience is a virtue", for YOU and for ME (a shout-out to my 98 year-old father-in-law and his wise counsel).

"I'm where the grass is greener, it grows where the sun is stronger

I'm right where I want to be, right outside your front door

You're my final destination"

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