Anybody else find life to loud, colourful and fast? Looking back at old tv things has made me long for the past.

[Superhansrantowindsor]

Am I being silly or is life just too hectic and busy. Big screens everywhere- on the bus , in the waiting room at the doctors. Loud music in shops with bright displays. Even billboards at the bus stop change and flicker.
I was watching an old documentary on YouTube and it just seemed like like was duller in the past but calming and just nicer.
Anyone else feel like this?

edited to say I’m sorry about the typo in the title.

Agree with this.

So was my mother in law and my Grandmother .

Even a coffee out ,so Tesco cafe , Starbucks,coffee1 ,Costa ,
All places that have blaring loud music,9,30 on a Sunday morning,you can't go for a quiet coffee because the music is blaring out .
I'm so sick of it ,I just ask them could they turn it down ..
You can't hear yourself think ,never mind follow an actual conversation

Unless it's just me 51 and autistic ADHD

I think black and white photographs are much more engaging than the garish colour ones of today.

But then so many people just take photos of themselves (often sticking their tongue out for some bizarre reason) gurning at the camera (phone).

I suppose I'm in the wrong era now...

Completely agree OP. I often found myself quite stressed out and irritable when going out and it took me a while to realise it was because of noise and brightness.

Shops are overcrowded with stock piled high, music loud and gangways like a maze (looking at you Superdry) and I always feel like I'm in someone's way.

I don't find this the case. Some aspects of life are overstimulating, but others are much less soppy. I can put in the evening and have a range or non alcoholic drinks, or a cup of tea. Open-plan is no longer seen as the ideal for homes and workplaces. Noise cancelling headphones and sleepy stories are amazing. There's much more of a culture of staying in. Board games are a socially acceptable adult activity. Comfort is more of a consideration for clothes. People's sensory difficulties are taken seriously. Shopping can often be done from home, as can many jobs.

I would like more cities to take Sao Paolo's lead and ban billboards completely.

@Singleandproud I think that is an extremely valid point. I put myself in that category. What was once just about manageable is now completely intolerable.

Yes I'm the same, and I had to take my son out of school because the sensory overload was breaking him entirely.

We're back to books and accoustic musical instruments now, and life is much calmer. We're kind of living in the past in our house, which is nice, but slightly fiddly when we need to go out into the present.

We've had to cancel Christmas too, which is strangely relaxing, once you get used to it. I used to spend months fretting about and getting ready. Now I have about 4 whole extra months in the year that are just free time that I never had before.

Yes and I find that Christmas is hurtling towards us where it becomes 10 x louder and brighter. My youngest has just been diagnosed with ASD and the more I think about it the more I think me and DH have it too. It’s exhausting, I like a quiet life with lots of fresh air and exercise.

Maybe I’m misremembering but I liked life in the late 90’s - mid 00’s. Enough technology to make our lives better, but we were able to switch off from it more.

Yes and no!! I really love modern technologies and access to music and all that but at the same time I do yearn for the UK of old Agatha Christie films and a few sweet little cars.

I just avoid places like that. I work locally, no hectic commute. I avoid shopping centres, I can order anything I really need online. And if I do go, we have a traditional high street, rather than a ghastly echoey booming mall. I'd rather be in the open air and cope with the weather. I can go for a walk or cycle anytime in the woods or fields. We don't have street lights so it's dusk at the moment. All is calm.

I'd hate to go back too far. I remember the 70s the first time round - poor choice of food, poor choice of TV, poor standards of housing. As a child, I found it cold, dreary, something to be endured.

At least today we have a choice.

I crave solitude and silence. I can spend several hours just sitting and doing nothing. I think life is so full on now our brains need a break.

I was only thinking about this earlier today! We just haven't evolved at the same rate as tech and noisy environments so the unnatural excessive stimulation really messes with our brains. Today I was trying to blank out my neighbour's banging and power tool racket, but it was really getting under my skin. This sort of noise is unnatural, and at the end of the day we're still animals that would naturally potter around in the woods and forage, not listen to power tools and stare at screens.

I was saying this to my DH just yesterday.

As a highly sensitive person (and probably neuro-diverse) I find modern day life just too everything. Too loud, too noisy and too stimulating, it's as though all the dials on life are cranked up to the max.
I have to get out with the dog every day over fields and countryside just to be able to reconnect to something more natural and basic.

Dd16 feels the same, we popped into a Home Bargains today and it was so noisy, bright and full on that neither of us could fully concentrate.

Oh and don't even get me going on the glaring lights on new cars. I feel as though I need sunglasses for night driving these days.

We were recently without power for 2 days which was both annoying and soothing.

I like watching old Carry on films and the street scenes are very nostalgic - so few cars, lovely gardens etc. Carry on camping is a good one😊

I have 30% hearing loss but very rarely wear my hearing aids because if I do, I am just completely overwhelmed by the noise of traffic, music, people shouting.

Also, the Good Life Christmas special (on daily Motion). So much simpler. I watch it most years.

Same. I find I need need a lot of quiet time to recover from it all. Drives me crazy when we come back home from being in central London and DP puts some music on right away. I need some silence first!

I read a book about six women of the last century. One was Dame Flora Robson. She said that as she grew older she liked silence.

Absolutely agree OP. I was a child in the 70s and it was so different back then - everything was slower and quieter, I really miss it. Everything is so frenetic nowadays, so much pressure and noise.

I love this thread.