Quiet Spaces

Tadeusz Lakota

During the holidays, I saw a tweet from someone that said: “My neighbor has a holiday guest who has opened and closed his car door at least 400 times since last night. I can't help but wonder just what is going on in that car?” 

While I was reading that, I heard the hydraulic brakes of a garbage truck in front of my house, heat coming through the vents, and my wall clock ticking. So much of what we hear is distracting and pulls us away from thinking on a deeper level. 

That’s the price for living in the city. We live right on top of one another and can hear so much of what our neighbors do and say. All the more reason to be more intentional about finding quiet spaces.

I used to write frequently in a coffee shop by my house. It’s spacious and comfortable. But the culture of the place has changed in recent years. The baristas are younger and they crank modern music — most of which gives me a headache. Also, the place has become a hub for business meetings in which people have to speak rather loudly to hear each other over the music. 

I have a library nearby where I plan to begin writing in the future. They allow you to bring in your own coffee and presumably, the place is much quieter. 

As someone who visits this website, you probably require quiet spaces just as much as I do. I’m curious about how you go about securing them. Do you pull away from humanity? Or do you simply wear noise-canceling headphones and just power through the noise?