The Past, Present, and Future of The Third Place

As 2020 comes to a close, we thought it would be fitting to take a moment to look at the past, the present, and the future of The Third Place. In this week’s episode we remind ourselves WHY we started this podcast, WHAT is this thing we call “The Third Place?” and HOW The Third Place will show up in 2021 and beyond. 

Why The Third Place?

Before the pandemic, before #BLM, before the political landscape, we found ourselves in a world struggling to connect at a deeper level. This desire to combat loneliness and encourage authentic connection has been a passion of ours long before the events of 2020, because loneliness and suicide rates were already at an all-time high. In our working relationship, we consistently came together to discuss ways to remedy these challenges through our work as leaders, as we believe positive change in business can inspire that in the world. The Third Place started here and quickly morphed well beyond business and into the personal.

What Even Is The Third Place?

The Third Place is most importantly a safe space to go deep. We call it The Third Place because it is where we move through a “this or that” perspective to discover a “this and that” approach, for when we reside in the “and” space, we experience the grey space, or what we call The Third Place. From this safe place, we can access our innate curiosity and wonder for the complexity of the human experience. It helps us to find generous perspectives, to access empathy, and to listen more consciously. It is not about adopting opposing views or ideas that have extreme connotations associated with them, but rather giving space for the spectrum to exist, outside of a dualistic way of being. 

What Will Become of The Third Place?

The work of The Third Place is just beginning... 2020 was revealing to us, in so many ways. But most of all, it validated the need for this work. You can anticipate that we will continue to go there. In fact, we often ask ourselves, “Would most people comfortably talk about this?” when we brainstorm our next conversation, and if the answer is no... we lean in. With that being said, stay tuned for episodes on ableism, disability, race, healthy masculinity and femininity, boundary setting, the power of saying no, how rest is best, self worth in being not doing, etc!

As always, thank you for your support… We SEE you and couldn’t do this without YOU!