What does 3 mean?

“Life without community has produced, for many, a lifestyle consisting mainly of a home-to-work-and-back-again shuttle. Social well-being and psychological health depend upon community…Most needed are those ‘third places’ which lend a public balance to the increased privatization of home life.…

Ray Oldenburg, “The Great Good Place”

I have believed for many years that meaningful relationships are a “life and death” necessity. But after going through a recent 3-year long season of personal as well as professional struggle and uncertainty, I believe it more than ever. As a whole we are a lonely culture, ordering our lives around the goal of living private, isolated lives.

A woman wakes up in the morning at Home – The First Place- , gets in her car and her garage door slowly creaks open as she backs the car out. She may or may not see her neighbor outside his home and she may or may not politely wave on her way to work – Her Second Place. She’ll soon get out of her car into another building where she’ll put in a hard day. She may or may not exchange pleasantries. But at the end of the day, she’ll get in her car, drive home and may see her neighbor. She may wave, or maybe not depending on her personal level of awareness. The garage door will slowly lower behind her and in 12 hours she’ll do it all over again.

We may not always be aware of it, but all of us need – yes, need – THIRD PLACES: playful, engaging, relational environments that foster a sense of belonging. Laughter abounds, ideas are shared and familiar faces are recognized. Oldenburg’s book “The Great Good Place” is a call for the proliferation and participation in such places.

3 Coffee & Roastery seeks to create such an environment, not because it’s in our name but because it’s what we ARE. Our hope is that you will experience it.

Visit us at www.3coffee.biz