How Having a "Third Place" Is Good For Your Mental Health

Do you find yourself going between work and home with hardly any stops along the way? Your life may be missing a “third place” and having one is more important to your well-being than you may realize. Think of your first place as where you live, your second place is where you work or go to school and your third place is any location that you go to frequently and no one’s forcing you to show up.

It could be anywhere - a coffee shop, the gym, church, a community center or a park - and if you don’t have one, you’re in good company. Researcher Dr. Narae Lee has studied the impact of third places and says one of the most important features of them is the social contact they give us. Even if you’re not chatting with people there, you’re enjoying activities with those who have similar interests, like sitting in a theater audience with other theater-lovers all around you.

Having a third place is especially important to help us build an identity outside home and work and Lee says these “social hubs” are crucial to our well-being because we live in an “increasingly lonely society.” So how do you find a third place? Think about your interests and try joining a club that involves those, like a running club, a book club or a fantasy football league. The priority is making it as easy as possible to show up, as Lee explains, “The important thing is that it should be easily accessible in your everyday life by foot or transit.”

Source: Today

Photo: Getty Images


Sponsored Content

Sponsored Content