Live Consciously: Expand Your Vision Beyond the Box of Ordinary Life

Hello and welcome to my website! The purpose of this website is to inspire you to think and live outside the box of ordinary life. I created this website in May 2008 when I had a unique opportunity to respond to a contest from my favorite blogger, Steve Pavlina. He wrote an article on "How to be a Man" and challenged his readers to write an article on "How to be a Woman".

One of the reasons I have become even more committed to this site is that I recently found a community of people on an online support group that have the same rare and misunderstood problem that I do. It is called 4S or Select Sound Sensitivity Syndrome. Dr. Marsha Johnson, an audiologist, from Portland Oregon coined the term. This problem has also been described as a form of sensory defensiveness.

In a nutshell, I and others like me, experience extreme discomfort when hearing sounds like gum chewing and breathing. This is a problem that has driven me to a multitude doctors, specialists, and mental health professionals throughout my life. Talking about my problem and how I have coped with it fits website’s theme of living outside the box of ordinary life. Everyone has challenges in their life that when approached with a healthy attitude, can make them stronger. So I hope you will find that my story is not only about my particular problem but is also a more widely relevant example of overcoming obstacles.

Right now I feel an urgent mission to provide useful information to other people who have 4S or are impacted by 4S, and raise awareness about this problem. I am so happy that parents of children with 4S participate in the Yahoo support group and interact with those of us who struggle with this as adults. Although 4S is still very much with me, I have made great progress since November of 2007 in learning to deal with it and lessen the impact on my life. I would like to share my story and my progress in dealing with this problem.

Despite living with such an intrusive problem that affects every aspect of my life, I lead a rich life and am a happy person with many interests. Right now I am especially fired about to write about 4S but I will be adding content on many other areas as well. Afterall, just like a person with diabetes should not be referred to as a diabetic and am not my problem—I have so much more to share with the world; 4S is not my identity!

How to be a Woman This article was written in response to a challenge from Steve Pavlina to write an article on How to be a Woman.

4S: Sonya's Story This is my personal story about my experience with sounds sensitivity.