Thank you for this! I’ve been sitting with the idea of fourth place in relation to decolonial pathways and keep starting and stopping an article about it.
The question I keep circling is this: do we need a fourth place only because relationship and belonging aren’t being tended to in our public third places? Or do our third places simply require deeper work to root out the colonial power structures that undermine belonging?
In much of your writing, it seems the answer may be both.
Perhaps fourth places allow belonging to be experienced and practiced so we can embody what we are striving for in third places.
I see you are developing a community around fourth place - I’ve signed up and look forward to continue! With gratitude.
I never really agreed with how some people (increasingly) use 3rd place to refer to cafes and public spaces. They lack what the 1st and 2nd spaces have… a meaning and purpose. I think they need to look more like communities and I think they replace what used to be churches/other religious sites in a more secular world.
I love this so much. Thank you for articulating so well something I've been musing on lately - how individuation enables greater connection, and the conditions that support this. It's paradoxical at first and aloneness takes some investigation but it makes sense in the end. Your definition, and the nine characteristics, matches my experience of Holotropic Breathwork training.
Thank you so much for this article. I was wondering about the commoditisation of the fourth space. I am asking in a genuinely curious way, as I and a friend have been exploring 4th spaces and we find the financials a very interesting piece. One frame of thinking I have had, is that it is a 3rd space of community if it is profitable and not a financial structure like a coop. Again, this is just something I am thinking about and would love your perspective on it to expand my thinking. Lots of well wishes,
Hi! I’m building creative community sanctuaries that do this work through making, in addition to discussion - I would love to participate in salons on this topic and to connect those with fourth spaces in the resource mapping platform I’m working on :)
reading this in the commons right now :) i really appreciate your work, keep it up!
Thank you!! very meta :)
I’ve just found your writing and musings and you are one of my favourite minds- sharing words- to read✨ thank you
Thank you for your support and resonance 🙏
Thank you for this! I’ve been sitting with the idea of fourth place in relation to decolonial pathways and keep starting and stopping an article about it.
The question I keep circling is this: do we need a fourth place only because relationship and belonging aren’t being tended to in our public third places? Or do our third places simply require deeper work to root out the colonial power structures that undermine belonging?
In much of your writing, it seems the answer may be both.
Perhaps fourth places allow belonging to be experienced and practiced so we can embody what we are striving for in third places.
I see you are developing a community around fourth place - I’ve signed up and look forward to continue! With gratitude.
I never really agreed with how some people (increasingly) use 3rd place to refer to cafes and public spaces. They lack what the 1st and 2nd spaces have… a meaning and purpose. I think they need to look more like communities and I think they replace what used to be churches/other religious sites in a more secular world.
What isn't a fourth place: one that holds events plus Q&A, but the audience questions are curated and read by the organizer.
I love this so much. Thank you for articulating so well something I've been musing on lately - how individuation enables greater connection, and the conditions that support this. It's paradoxical at first and aloneness takes some investigation but it makes sense in the end. Your definition, and the nine characteristics, matches my experience of Holotropic Breathwork training.
Thank you so much for this article. I was wondering about the commoditisation of the fourth space. I am asking in a genuinely curious way, as I and a friend have been exploring 4th spaces and we find the financials a very interesting piece. One frame of thinking I have had, is that it is a 3rd space of community if it is profitable and not a financial structure like a coop. Again, this is just something I am thinking about and would love your perspective on it to expand my thinking. Lots of well wishes,
Astrid
Hi! I’m building creative community sanctuaries that do this work through making, in addition to discussion - I would love to participate in salons on this topic and to connect those with fourth spaces in the resource mapping platform I’m working on :)
Do you know of any 4th places in LA?