Most of us have two places. The first is our home and includes the people we live with. The second is our workplace. And this is typically where we spend most of our time connecting with others and delivering something our employers value.

The third place is separate from the first two. It is where we socialize and is an anchor of community life. It is a place that facilitates more creative interactions and where you relax in public. It is where you find familiar faces and connect. You often make new friends or acquaintances here.

What is an example of a third place?

· cafes and coffee shops

· clubs

· public libraries

· gyms

· churches

· bookstores

· stoops or front porches

· parks

· coworking spaces

· general stores

· bars or pubs

· a bowling alley

There is an economic connectedness that happens in third places. We find people who are of different social classes and with different perspectives. We interact and find a place to belong that isn’t tied to family or work.

We live in a world where loneliness is an epidemic. Finding a third place may help each of us lessen the loneliness in ourselves and others.

What is your third place? Or maybe the better question is, what third place will you go to in the next week?

Sources: Wikipedia, Ray Oldenburg

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