Thin walls

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I live in a row house with thin walls. That is the way they built them just over a century ago ~ small row houses, inexpensively constructed with one tap, one heater, a (very) steep stair case, and thin walls.
Right now, these houses are not really considered ‘family dwellings’. Singles or couples occupy them, and as soon as they start a family, they tend to move to greener pastures ~ conceivably bigger, a nice bathroom, kitchen; and a bit more privacy...

In a sense the thin walls make for a certain oneness with the neighbors. My neighbor on one side likes cooking and the way we can hear the chopping of veggies etc., I guess he is good at it. My neighbor on the other side has his son over every other week. His son is young and a lot less quiet than his father.

To those who are not accustomed to living in old buildings that not only have the creaky floor boards ~ and that one step on the staircase that always makes a noise ~ that come with age, yet also have the thin walls and lack of isolation that bear the memories of times long gone by this may seem annoying. On the other hand it does give a certain sense of ~ unanticipated ~ oneness within the neighborhood. As we can hear at least part of our neighbors lives, it makes it easy to keep an eye, or in this case an ear out for another. And when there are sounds that should not be there, nine out of ten times these are investigated.
A built in neighborhood watch system.

Anyone living in row houses like where I live knows a thing or two on how to gain peace and quiet.
First and foremost, playing the radio or any kind of music in the background has a tendency to drown out next door’s sounds. In some houses sound insulation has been installed, and when new floors are constructed great pains are taken to have the beams in one house not touch the beams in the next house...

Yet as it is, there is just one thing that works without fail; to accept the fact that some sounds will filter through. And that acceptance makes it possible to not get upset about the noise next door.

Very much like one can learn to meditate with all kinds of noise around them. Through acceptance that it is there, and a sense of oneness in which that noise becomes part of the music of life...
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