A Misophonia Success Story: Healing Happenings On An Urban Forest Walk
Misophonia literally means “hatred of sound,” but it is not a dislike of all sounds. Rather, this very real disorder is characterized by strong negative reactions to only certain sounds (which vary among individuals). If you have ever gotten irritated by the sound of fingernails scraping on a chalkboard, then you can understand — to a very tiny degree — how misophonia feels to those of us who unfortunately suffer through the reactions.
Thankfully this condition is rather rare, so most of you readers probably do not have it, but I invite you to read on and perhaps find a few jewels (take-aways) from this success story, which I sense has other relatable elements within it.
Recently I went for a walk amongst our trees, on a cold and cloudy day. At the beginning, and at the end, of the walk, I felt strong misophonia reactions to the loud traffic sounds reverberating in the city. The panic felt close to hysteria. Strangely, in the middle portion of the walk, I was able to completely focus on other sights and sounds, which temporarily halted the very uncomfortable feelings that had been activated by the traffic trigger.
The first sight that distracted me was a black bird sitting way up high, on the very top of the cross, which is at the very top of the church’s red brick bell tower. A bit later, I saw some crows flying and heard a brief “caw”…. I felt so happy when I realized that it had been a crow perched up there, because I love crows! The sound of their “caw caw caw” fills me with such delight.
Next, a stray cat passed through the yard which greatly excited one of the resident squirrels. He chattered on and on, and on, about it! It was seriously hilarious listening to him, and the sound of his voice did not bother me at all.
Then, watching some brown leaves falling from a large tree, I reflected on the processes of death and decay, which reminded me of my Dad’s body decomposing in the soil, and suddenly I imagined the fungus in his toenails growing mushrooms! Yes, sometimes I have a morbid sense of humor!
Before I could think more about that, I happily spotted two cardinals perched high in a tall holly tree. They were sitting quietly inside the greenery, with the red male on a branch in front, and the brown female on a branch slightly above and behind him. Sitting there in utter silence, they looked so peaceful. That image was so incredible that I continued to see it in my mind’s eye, even as I was falling asleep that night.
After walking in circles, watching the cardinals, for a while, the city traffic started to annoy me again, and right then I looked up and saw the lamps glowing in my upstairs room, which I call my treehouse temple. I thought about how my cozy and colorful room is inside our warm and cheerful home, which is on this little urban forest land, which is — unfortunately — in the middle of a huge noisy city! Somehow that perspective helped my mind, because I remembered the many happinesses that are available here, even though they are surrounded by upsetting sound triggers.
In this time of widespread strife and collective anxiety on the planet, it can be so healing to just enjoy the many small happenings which are right in front of us.
Can you relate to any of this story?
