10 Comments
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Erin Elizabeth's avatar

Hi Ruby. I love what you wrote here. I think about this all the time too. And as ai girl of the 90s I couldn’t help but smile when I read the parts about Before Sunrise.

Read & Riot's avatar

loved this so much! I really relate to the line "It wasn’t just a building. It was the possibility it held". All these third places were so much about exploring and discovering, then just being somewhere outside our home or work.

Samson Midigo's avatar

Ruby, thanks for sharing this.

The third space took me down memory lane to unforgettable spots in my part of the world.

I loved every bit of it.

Megan Tay's avatar

Hi Ruby, this was a really nice read. I quite wanted to write something similar of actually capturing and reminiscing the fleeting but memorable moments simply because one would be at their third space but you have written this really vividly and well.

Safayraa Chaand's avatar

The way this post and I found each other - perfect timing! Because my friends and I were discussing the same thing today that accessible third spaces are either disspearing or are being too controlled, even when they are accessible (we went to a park today where people were not allowed to sit on the lawn). We were also discussing about how people lack civic sense and litter the third spaces :(

bloomingwords's avatar

Hie Ruby ,I love the way you wrote this piece. I love this 3rd space of ours where we can simply exist.

Barbara Miller's avatar

Lovely and so true. Thank you.

Isaac's avatar

What an incredible articulation of an aspect of society today. I’ve long wondered why there is this ‘absence’ in community but this explains so much. Thank you Ruby, amazing work!

Sally's avatar

Ruby, so beautifully written. As an older child of the 80s we had so many of these haunts to just be in. My eldest son lost a friend last year and his bench has become his and his friend’s third space..to just be, catch up and look at the view. A time to consider moments to come. Enjoy Mexico.

Alena Babich's avatar

Ruby, thank you. It was very warm for me to read your letter.

I think my third place is never a place. It's a road, an adventure, a kind of movement that always brings with it circumstances where you meet someone truly alive.