The Return of Background Noise & Sensitivity

By Chelsea Adams

Find out more about Chelsea here!

​Since lockdown ceased in my suburb of Melbourne, I have realised the one thing that was hiding. The one aspect of life that had quietly been cut off and making me feel slightly off, but not knowing why. Noise. Background sound. You know, the life sounds of things happening around you. I arrived in the area I'm now living in halfway through lockdown, when restrictions were first wound back, before the second wave. I arrived to an extra quiet street that now is booming with sound, and I couldn't be more comforted by it. The beats from the café music nearby, the sound of more traffic, the light chatter of people walking and kids playing at parks. All this noise has a familiar lull that I didn't know I was missing until now. It has also reminded me of the sensitivity to sound that allows us as humans to express and channel our emotions. Our ability to connect in this way as sound begins to travel throughout Melbourne with each passing day of zero cases. A celebration of sound. As this continues remember to be kind and attentive to people as these changes happen within our society. Remember that sensitivity is an asset.

​-Sensitive-
The wistful, the whimsical, the moving bodies:
Of trees, of water
Intrinsically bound by the tide and pull of the moon.
Today I am sensitive to all the sounds
Tomorrow will be different too.
 
For this blessing and its trials
Present new opportunities day by day;
To relinquish my typical patterns
And embrace the atypical again.
 
The strength, the agitation, the intense triggers like:
Of dripping, of chatter, of loudness and sight.
Connected to that gut feeling of fight or flight.
 
Today I am sensitive to all the world brings
And I shall not frown on it with shame.
I am proud of this word:
-Sensitive-
Of my empathy, of my name,
For it is mine to tame.
 
So be sensitive, be linked to emotion
No matter who you are. You are valid. You are loved.
 
I shall no longer apologise,
Progress is progress
For my own gain.
 
No one shall tell me I am too much of something
Too sensitive, too emotional, too intense.
Not placing gainings of expectation,
Judgement or Freedom.
Not harming those around for recompense.
I can feel what I need to, in my own time;
While not tearing someone down.
While not making a scene,
It can be quiet and subdue;
It can be however you wish it to be.
 
The pride, the courage, the human emotions,
No longer judged with preconceived notions.
Turning anew,
Breaking free,
Emotional intelligence;
Is for you and for me.