A Good Thunk

I grabbed coffee with a friend yesterday in Berkeley and we popped into the wonderful Topdrawer on Fourth Street. He picked up a pen and commented on its satisfying click (and oh boy was it satisfying).

It reminded me that the best pens don’t actually click in my experience, but thunk. A click doesn’t hit my ear nicely, but a thunk? Keep ‘em coming. I love items that produce a good thunk.

It doesn’t stop at pens. In fact, that’s probably one of the more rare and surprising thunks. I love a hefty book that thunks when you toss it onto the table; a car door that thunks when it’s swung shut.

Closing the drawer of a well-built dresser. Attaching a lens to your camera. A cast-iron skillet placed on a stove. The lid of a MacBook descending those last few millimeters. There are thunks all around us, and often-but-not-always created by things of quality.

Now, you might have your own word for it, or another sound that you prefer. Maybe you’re more of a thwack or a snap person. Perhaps you like a good clunk or clink or—god forbid—clang. For all I know you revel in a smack, crack or thud. If you’re a bit more eccentric, you could even be into a classic bonk or boing. No judgment here—live your truth.

I don’t know of many people who don’t enjoy a good thunk, though, and I think there’s something beautiful about that. It’s often said that beauty—and for the sake of this post, let’s paraphrase that to quality—is in the eye of the beholder, but I don’t really think that’s true. I’ll forever believe that a thunk is superior to a click. No competition.

Whatever your favorite sounds are, I’d encourage you to look out for them, and to curate the items that create them. Take a little moment to enjoy a couple of thunks or thwacks in between meetings; share them with others that enjoy the same sounds that you do.