LIFE'S BETTER ON THE PORCH

Today, my office is the Starbucks on 528 at 518. As I work on our new website, I noticed a new Raspberry Mocha advert and I was struck by the key line, LIFE'S BETTER ON THE FRONT PORCH. In recent years, Rhonda and I have been investigating ways to live a simpler life, even as we gain complexity by raising a 6 year old girl and a 6 month old boy - not always easy. Is life really better on the front porch? I believe so and I don't even have a front porch.

We have our intimate areas of home and our business areas of work. Unfortunately, we don't always make a place for median spaces, or third-places. Places where we meet new people. Places where we connect with those around us. In past years, these median spaces included the front porch. In a society where neighborhoods were designed for engagement, people would sit out on their front porches in the evenings and converse with people passing by on their way home from work, or on their way to the store or just strolling through the neighborhood. This was a non-threatening place for neighbors to get to know each other.

I'm writing from what possibly may be the most recognizable third-place in our society - Starbucks. This morning I have seen two elderly women knitting as they discussed life, religion and politics over a cup of iced mocha. I've watched young men meet for business, young women meet for conversation. Mostly in two's or three's. I am the rarity sitting alone in the corner.

I want to live a life where space is made for connection with others. I want to find median spaces where I can engage in meaningful relational connections. My driveway is becoming my front porch.