
Third spaces. Not home, not work— places people know your name, watch your kids grow, pay attention. Your favorite spots. Maybe they don’t have the best coffee, or the cheapest baskets, maybe they are not open 24 hours a day, maybe they don’t ask for your attention on the daily or at every inbox turn with a sale, sale, sale… maybe they don’t think of you as a wallet on legs.
Our communities care in ways that corporations could never, and some governments can only pretend. So if you’re feeling the pinch of present tense— might I suggest leaning on the spaces that always try to be there for you, even if you sometimes forget they are there?
Out of toilet paper? CVS in person at 9pm is a sure fire way to run into someone you know in your ready for bed best. Sure you can one-click it, but what are you trading for that “convenience”?
Did you know Russell’s has great nitro coffee on tap? Cabot cheese? Humanely raised bacon?
Don’t you dare order bike things from the internet. Have you MET the owner of Ray and Sons? A delight.
Did you know the honor system farm stand at Codman is open 24/7? What a winter adventure to roll up through a pitch black fallow field to buy goat milk caramels and small batch tortilla chips at 2am, let me tell you…
What if you just like… left your house sometimes? Put the phone down? Cancelled the doom scroll?
I bet you’d run into your neighbors. I bet you’d get smiled at. I bet there’s plenty of people who would be happy to see you while you were treating your precious little synapses to some high quality dopamine in the form of novelty, connection, et al.
Also— I read recently that your body can synthesize its own vitamin D with cold exposure. I don’t know if it’s true, but apparently there’s a theory that being outside in winter causes some kind of mitochondrial thermogenisis that I found at the time to be really annoying information because I abhor being cold, but people that are into outerwear and skiing and other manner of winter activities do seem to be onto something… and probably the Outdoor Store can help you find the ease in that? Almost positive.
Happy January? #sendhelp #missyou #locallove
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