May

30

Do you have a third place?

Filed Under The ramblings of a creative consultant 

We all have two major environments; our work life and our home life, but there is a growing trend towards a third place.

Wiki desribes a ‘Third Place’ as the following:

“The Third Place” is a term used in the concept of community building to refer to social surroundings separate from the two usual social environments of home and the workplace. In his influential book The Great, Good Place, Ray Oldenburg argues that third places are important for civil society, democracy, civic engagement, and establishing feelings of a sense of place. Michael Krassa argues along similar lines, looking at neighborhood design, social network formation, and civic involvement.”

I have my own third place. My third place is my local gym. I go there 5 days week and have done so for the past 10 months. I really enjoy going to my local gym as I love challening myself physically. However, my local gym, my third place serves as having another purpose, it has become my creative hub.

When I am at work, in an office, it is e-mails, phone calls and business development. When I am at my third space I meet people, I listen to my ipod, I hear all about the lives of others and this gets my creative juices flowing. I have come up with many of the ideas that I am working on at the gym - through a conversation with others, through a line of a song or through something completely different that I think about.

I really enjoy my third space and see it as much a part of my work as anything else, but it is my special time, no mobile ‘phones or e-mails but space to push myself physically and mentally. I come back from the gym re-energised, focussed and ready to get straight back into my work.

I wonder how much other people would benefit from a Third Space, whether this would benefit their lives both their working and family life. Perhaps you have a third space, I would love to hear about it.

Check it out: The Great, Good place.

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