Our body space extends as far as we can see and as far as we can
hear. It doesn't end at our fingertips.
We even have a bubble around us - our "personal zone' - perhaps
our unconscious measurement of the Infrared (heat) colors around
us (I suspect).
Anything that disturbs our body space gives us the creeps and we
respond with the results of our emotional calculator and brain
chemicals that tell us : RESPOND OR FREEZE - NOW! literally
flood the murky soup of our brain.
White noise is comforting.
It is randomness with patterns; the sound of a fan running, the
non-stop talking of TV and Youtubers, socializing with noisy
friends.
The walls of our indoors is comforting too, to a point, giving
us a physical end to our personal space; a sense of safety and
comfort between these walls.
Randomness is comforting. It blurs anything outside of it,
placing it out of our area of concern.
Just tonight, i took a quick walk at dusk down the driveway and
out to the street.
I was contemplating body space, wondering if I could sense how
far it extends away from me. I looked up at the moon, to the
forest at the sides. I was lost in my own thoughts.
Suddenly, I hear a rustling in the palm fronds near by. I felt a
creeping sensation go up my legs and to my back. I looked over
in that direction to see a few palm fronds still jiggling. By
then, the rest of my body had turned around and started talking
at the same pace, back towards the driveway.
The feeling left as quickly as it came, but my awareness was
heightened slightly.
As I pondered over the noise, starting up the driveway, I heard
another rustle, closer. The same creepy sensation went up my
legs to my lower back and when I couldn't see what made the
noise in the oncoming darkness, I continued walking up the
driveway, pausing to reflect within running distance of the
front door, in the perceived safety of my home.
There was no fear - but I did get the answer to my question
about body space.
And in those moments, I understood why a bump in the night is so
frightening to children and grownups alike and why we live in
cultures full of industrial noises and talking and music and
walls all around:
It is patterned randomness. It is white noise for the brain.
