Hannah Steenbock

You may know by now that I walk to work. And in fact, I walk along a four-lane street, for about 2km. It’s safe, there is a perfectly good sidewalk that many people use, as well as a bike path.

But today, I focused on the sounds around me.

And as you can imagine, there is a lot of noise in such a street.

First, one notices the cars. But there are busses, trucks, bicycles and pedestrians, and they sound quite distinct.

A jangle to the left of me is a bike. The owner put the chain lock into a basket on the handlebars. Just behind her someone rides a bike with a loose cover rattling above the back wheel.

A deep, moaning sucking sound is a cleaning truck clearing the storm drains.

Then there’s the garbage truck, with the banging of the plastic garbage cans. And the rumble of the wheels on those large bins as they are dragged out of back yards and returned to their hiding places.

The wheezing woooosh is the pneumatic brake of a bus.

Steps behind me, hammering the flagstones. A man runs past, trying to catch the bus.

And suddenly – silence. No cars rushing by. For a few moments, I can hear a bird sing, a seagull scream. The rustle of the wind in the trees growing both on the middle particion, as well as on the sides of the street, in front of the houses. It lasts only a few seconds, then traffic is back.

Can you sense how rich that environment is?

I believe I’m an introvert. I love silence. I love connecting with people through the safety of my computer screen. I think silent reading meetings are a great thing. So are libraries.

And yet… when I meet someone who thinks like me, who enjoys the same things – writing, reading, stories, horses, role-playing, and whatever else – I can talk for hours. And love every minute.

Sound familiar?

Maybe I’m not introverted. Maybe I just need the right people. Maybe so do you.

Think about that. Because we humans are social creatures.

We need the right tribe.