Life As Performance Art 24

I'm going to try to backpedal a little bit today. I was mentioning that noise from certain people nearby could really impact my ability to enjoy my home, which is true. I an noise sensitive, and seem to do best when there is lots of quiet. I was not intentionally slamming any of those people for living with mental illness, nor for impacting my own comfort and wellbeing while I am off duty, since I work professionally with persons living with mental illness. The thing is, this can get very tiring and draining, and when I am resting and recovering from some of my more intense professional sessions with some very challenging clients, the last thing I need is visible and audial reminders of my day-job. This is merely a complaint. It is not an expression of dislike or discrimination against people with mental health disorders. I also imagine this could make me appear as quite a hypocrite, given some of the Christian content in my blogposts, such as yesterday. I love my clients and my neighbours. But I also am human and just as fragile as anyone else, for which reason I also need to rest and recover, especially if I am going to do my job well. This can also get complicated given that I have a couple of friends who are also living with mental illness. I like to be available as a friend, and I enjoy them. Sometimes, if their illness is driving some very uncomfortable or negative behaviours, I have to distance myself, and for the simple reason of self-preservation, while acknowledging that I am not in a position to be their therapist, much as I do like to offer support where I can. It is a delicate balance, between self-care and being a good friend, and I am not sure if I will ever get it quite right. It is also rather difficult for me to separate between my professional engagements and my friendships, as there is going to be a lot of unavoidable overlap there, and it is hard not to morph into, by default, everyone's therapist. This is especially given my professed calling as a Christian and the ongoing mission I live with of sharing and expressing God's love to all people. This cannot be neatly shut on and off or compartmentalized because this is the very thing that sustains me. Despite my complaining at times of exhaustion and burnout. I think I am also fielding leftover stress from the two difficult weeks that followed my recent visit to Costa Rica. So, the noise sensitivity is a little bit higher than usual, but really, at times it is intolerable. I just had to shut my window in order to hear what's on the radio, because of a particularly noisy garbage truck outside. Really, I think that most of us are living with more noise than what is really healthy for humans and those who say they are not bothered by it are either lying, or they have become a little too used to something that is actually harmful. Like the frog in boiling water, anyone?