Third Spaces
Item No. 16
“Touch. Eye contact. Conversation.”In The Last Catalog, we list third spaces. Those spaces outside our home (first space) and our work (second space) where we might encounter other human beings to socialize with. A sociologist named Ray Oldenburg coined this term way back in 1989, the same year “Eternal Flame by the Bangles” was a hit song, with the lyrics, “close your eyes, give me your hand.” A third space might be just the type of space where you could actually hold someone’s hand. Imagine two people on a walk in the park. Or holding hands over the table at a cafe. It's not that you need to be all romantic to inhabit a third space. It doesn’t need to be romantic at all. Maybe the romance is a bonus, but remember there are all kinds of other love to have in this life. Friendships, for example. Third spaces are the sort of spaces where these types of relationships can spark and then flourish. Cafes. Dog parks. Gyms. Playgrounds. Skateparks. Bowling alleys. They’re the places where you’ll find people who aren’t your family or colleagues–or, perhaps better said, besides your family and colleagues. And they’re NOT screens or human avatars. The humans in these places are real, live human beings. The fleshy kind. A third space is a place that humans go to make human connections, to meet strangers who they might share something in common with, to find community and to socialize. They’re in the catalog this season as they’ve been steadily declining at the same time the loneliness epidemic is growing. One college newspaper pointed out that social media and online shopping were culprits in the decline—in the (death of this) thing.
Togetherness. Touch. Eye contact. Conversation. Brushing up next to someone accidentally and realizing they’re there. Sharing a meal or a cup of coffee or a laugh.
Other specifications:
Public–available to everyone space. Comfortable. Welcome. Neutral ground. A kind atmosphere. Accommodating. Ideally ‘regulars’ present, i.e. a familiar face or two.