Finding a place outside of work and home to explore interests and hobbies or just socialize is incredibly important.

The wake of the isolation from COVID-19 lockdowns paired with a culture predating the pandemic in which a large amount of human interaction happens online rather than in-person has made finding and utilizing such places more important than ever.

In the Tuesday, June 16, edition of the Butler Eagle, we explored a handful of such places, dubbed “third places” due to their existence as an alternative setting beyond work and home.

Extensive studies have found that socialization has a positive impact on both mental and physical health and even promotes longevity.

In 2023, the Office of the Surgeon General issued an advisory outlining the impact social connections can have on physical health.

Mayo Clinic psychologist Dr. Craig Sawchuk lauded the benefits in an article for the Mayo Clinic.

“We are social animals by nature, so we tend to function better when we’re in a community and being around others,” Sawchuk said in the article.

And just this March the National Institutes of Health published an overview of some of the benefits of maintaining social connections.

While many of the locations providing socialization opportunities had to shut their doors due to revenue lost during the pandemic; that just makes those that survive, and those reemerging, are more important than ever.

— JP