This is kind of a cool concept. It made me really ponder my places. What should be my third place is actually my second place and it's not primarily peopley. That's probably why I feel at home there lol.
It's the dog park. Or anywhere else that I go with my dog. And this might sound stupid but dog people are friendlier than any other humans I know of. It's always a social affair with good and kind people.
Dog park is actually a good one that I hadn’t considered. We have one not far from our house, but not many people go to it unfortunately. Also, our dogs are so lazy that by the time we walk there, they don’t wanna do much AT the dog park 😂
It does tend to be the case that dog people are pretty friendly. Especially a dog person who takes the time to bring their dog to the dog park :) Thanks for mentioning that one!
Yeah, a lot of people lost work as their second place, either because they now work from home or don't have a job at all. And honestly, in a perfect world (that's not topsy turvy), work wouldn't even be one of the 3. We would have home, a couple of other places and "oh I guess work too because that's something I do to pay the bills". Love the title of that post, by the way (thin trust piazza).
Unfortunately I don’t really have third place either. And even though I’ve lived in the same area friends come and go and I’m at a point in my life where I don’t really have anyone who I consider close other than my daughter. But I’m focused on my work and hobbies too which is essential for mental health
Yup, at a certain age you just tend to drift from a lot of your friends. Sadly, some of the people with whom I'm the closest are physically the farthest away. If only one could bring all the people they connect with into a single area 😂
I imagine church is one for many people. If nothing else, it’s a great place to foster a sense of community :) And coffee shops are classic. Easy access to caffeine doesn’t hurt 😂
Me and a couple of the parents at my children’s school formed our own little parents’ band. We play probably twice a year, at the Christmas and then the end of year social. I won’t say that we are any good, but it’s fun to do something together.
That’s awesome! Practicing throughout the year must be fun. That’s a creative idea for anyone who’s the least bit musically inclined. Thanks for chiming in :)
Thanks for writing this post. This is also something I have been thinking a lot about. I would like to find a third space for myself, and if I can't identify one, I think I'm going to try to create one. Community has always been important to me, and I believe it is healing in many ways the world doesn't always appreciate.
Thanks for reading! Creating one is also an option. So many of the great spaces out there were started by someone who said “huh, I wish there was somewhere I could...” then made it happen :) I’ve been thinking the same. We live outside the city so we don’t have as many options, but I bet there’s some bar/pub/restaurant around here that would be open to someone starting a weekly or bi-weekly event on nights they’re typically less busy.
Those two places sound pretty awesome to me! Even if you hadn’t thought of them recently, they must have stuck with you because you were able to pull them up :)
This is kind of a cool concept. It made me really ponder my places. What should be my third place is actually my second place and it's not primarily peopley. That's probably why I feel at home there lol.
It's the dog park. Or anywhere else that I go with my dog. And this might sound stupid but dog people are friendlier than any other humans I know of. It's always a social affair with good and kind people.
Dog park is actually a good one that I hadn’t considered. We have one not far from our house, but not many people go to it unfortunately. Also, our dogs are so lazy that by the time we walk there, they don’t wanna do much AT the dog park 😂
It does tend to be the case that dog people are pretty friendly. Especially a dog person who takes the time to bring their dog to the dog park :) Thanks for mentioning that one!
I'll be interested to see what other places are mentioned in the comments.
Working from home since the pandemic has been eliminated my second place so what was my third place (the gym) is now my second place. I wrote a bit about the loss of community recently and this concept of third places in some ways started with Bowling Alone, which I reference. https://open.substack.com/pub/kathekon/p/thin-trust-piazza?r=7j6pb&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post
Yeah, a lot of people lost work as their second place, either because they now work from home or don't have a job at all. And honestly, in a perfect world (that's not topsy turvy), work wouldn't even be one of the 3. We would have home, a couple of other places and "oh I guess work too because that's something I do to pay the bills". Love the title of that post, by the way (thin trust piazza).
Thanks, Nick! Let me know what you think of the piece, too.
Unfortunately I don’t really have third place either. And even though I’ve lived in the same area friends come and go and I’m at a point in my life where I don’t really have anyone who I consider close other than my daughter. But I’m focused on my work and hobbies too which is essential for mental health
Yup, at a certain age you just tend to drift from a lot of your friends. Sadly, some of the people with whom I'm the closest are physically the farthest away. If only one could bring all the people they connect with into a single area 😂
Never really thought about it like that, I guess my third place would be men's basketball league. It's so good for your mental and physical health.
Yeah that’s a good one! I’ve been thinking of finishing something like that for myself :)
Church and my favorite coffee shop
I imagine church is one for many people. If nothing else, it’s a great place to foster a sense of community :) And coffee shops are classic. Easy access to caffeine doesn’t hurt 😂
Me and a couple of the parents at my children’s school formed our own little parents’ band. We play probably twice a year, at the Christmas and then the end of year social. I won’t say that we are any good, but it’s fun to do something together.
That’s awesome! Practicing throughout the year must be fun. That’s a creative idea for anyone who’s the least bit musically inclined. Thanks for chiming in :)
Thanks for writing this post. This is also something I have been thinking a lot about. I would like to find a third space for myself, and if I can't identify one, I think I'm going to try to create one. Community has always been important to me, and I believe it is healing in many ways the world doesn't always appreciate.
Thanks for reading! Creating one is also an option. So many of the great spaces out there were started by someone who said “huh, I wish there was somewhere I could...” then made it happen :) I’ve been thinking the same. We live outside the city so we don’t have as many options, but I bet there’s some bar/pub/restaurant around here that would be open to someone starting a weekly or bi-weekly event on nights they’re typically less busy.
Those two places sound pretty awesome to me! Even if you hadn’t thought of them recently, they must have stuck with you because you were able to pull them up :)