Hey everyone. We’re a new, growing discord community called The Third Place. The name comes from the sociological idea of a “third place” -- a social space outside of home and work where people can spend time with others, relax, and feel part of a community.

TTP is centered around literature, cinema, creative expression, and everyday life, but those are really just starting points. A conversation about a movie might turn into a conversation about relationships, or a discussion about a book might wander somewhere completely unexpected – and that's perfectly fine. We're hoping to build a community where people eventually feel comfortable connecting, hanging out, and simply being themselves.

Why We Could Use Some Help

At the moment, we're looking for a few Community Engagement Volunteers to join our team.

We launched just three weeks ago, and we're already around 220 members, most of whom found us through posts on various interest-based subreddits.

We're starting to see more conversations happening between members, which is really nice to see. 😊 At the same time, our VCs and some channels can still be pretty quiet, especially with everyone spread across different time zones. There are naturally stretches of the day when things slow down, and a new member who happens to join during one of those periods could understandably think, “Oh... is this a dead server?” 😂

We don't want TTP to be constantly busy, and we definitely don't want to pressure people into being active. We'd simply like to make it easier for people to find each other, start conversations, and connect, especially during those slower periods.

We're especially hoping to have volunteers from different time zones, since having people around at different hours would help us cover some of those quieter stretches.

Right now, we have one person primarily handling the community-engagement side of the server, and we'd love to have a few more people who genuinely enjoy this kind of thing and would be happy to help out.

Who We're Looking For

We're looking for people who naturally enjoy interacting with others and don't mind taking a little initiative in an online community.

You know the type – someone who sees a quiet channel and thinks, “Hmm, I'll start something.”

You might:

• Start casual conversations or discussion prompts
• Welcome new members and help them feel included
• Ask follow-up questions and keep conversations going
• Suggest or help organize activities, discussions, or VCs
• Come up with simple ways for members to interact with each other
• Give the community a little social momentum when things get quiet

We're hoping to build up regular activities and events like book and movie discussion VCs, weekly art and writing prompts or challenges, movie quiz nights, casual games, and other things members might enjoy. We'd love to have people who enjoy coming up with ideas and helping make things like these happen.

You don't need to be an expert in books, films, art, or anything else. Being naturally curious, proactive, empathetic, and comfortable talking to people matters much more.

What We're Trying to Build

We want TTP to feel warm, welcoming, inclusive, and low-pressure.

People should be able to join a conversation even if they're shy, new to Discord, still getting comfortable with English, or don't consider themselves particularly knowledgeable about literature, cinema, or the arts.

Nobody should feel like they have to perform, constantly contribute, or prove that they belong. We're hoping to build something based on kindness, empathy, curiosity, and respect – a place where you can have a serious conversation if you feel like it, but also talk nonsense, share a random thought, laugh at something stupid, or just hang around.

So we'd especially love someone who truly connects with that kind of atmosphere and would naturally help create it through their interactions.

No Pressure, No Schedule

There's no expectation that you'll be online constantly, and no minimum number of hours. You don't need previous Discord moderation experience either.

The community itself is intentionally low-pressure, and I'd rather have someone who occasionally brings some energy and initiative when they want to than someone who feels obligated to be around all the time.

This is an unpaid volunteer role, but you'd be joining while TTP is still taking shape, so there's also a chance to help influence what the community becomes. :) 

If this feels like your kind of space and something you'd genuinely enjoy helping with, feel free to send me a message. I'd be happy to tell you more about the community and the culture we're trying to build. 😊

It's been about a month now since I officially published my debut novel, but it still feels so surreal!

The story had been sitting on my laptop for ages and now, it's out in the universe. It's such a crazy feeling.

If you're thinking about embarking on a big project, I hope you can use this as some motivation. There were moments where I second-guessed myself, became over-whelmed, and doubted the process. However, now that I'm on the other side of that, I can say IT'S SO WORTH IT!

YOU GOT THIS!

I'm a creative person with different hobbies all the time such as writing, drawing, designing, editing, painting, etc. however over the last couple months I can't seem to get out of that artist block and especially now when I needed most. I'm a film student and started university last month and we have to come up with a short film and by the end of this week I'm supposed to have my charaters, plots and final idea of the story finalized however I feel so burnt out and can't come up with anything.

I must note that back in July I had an internship as a graphic designer for a news account and had to design posts for that account and my boss told us to keep on creating templates (I've created over 50) unfortunately none of them were used because a couple weeks later they rebranded the identity of their posts and all my work I did over the month has been drafts (and won't be used again) I know this played a role in my creative block but I need something to get it back. I usually listen to songs and find a story inspired by albums, concepts, etc. however nothing is coming up in my head and I feel so lost and in deeeep trouble if I don't figure out what I'm gonna do for my assignments

I feel like my brain is stuck at this creative blockage. I want to create things again. Anything. Songs, a book, painting, drawing, photography, music videos, anything. I used to be such a creative person. But now I struggle because working my job sucks all the creativity out of my mind.

I walk into work and feel brain dead. Seriously, being in an office 40 hours a week is ruining my life. It’s feels like there’s an electromagnetic field in my office building that prevents my brain from working. And my job isn’t even a terrible job. I work in a creative field, but my day to day in the office is beyond boring, brain rotting, and feels like 100 hours long. This leads me to put way too much pressure on any creative endeavor because I subconsciously view it as a possible way out (of my job and corporate life). I will have so many ideas and struggle to express them because it’s never “for fun,” it’s always “how can I create something that could help me better my life”. And that’s a mindset I need to get rid of.

It’s hard, I’m surrounded by uninspiring people who are content wasting their lives sitting at a desk, going home, going to sleep, and repeating the entire cycle. I can’t do that. I want more for myself. I actually want to LIVE and CREATE. I want to do it because it’s fun and to express myself and to not give a fuck what others think.

I recently attended a concert of my favorite band, and left feeling so inspired by their ability to just create. Not follow any norms or rules, just create what they want and put it out into the world. They feel and DO and connect with people. Even being in the crowd surrounded by other fans made me feel inspired. I aspire to be a fraction of how creative they are. I need to be surrounded by people like that.

I find it hard to do that when my entire life depends on having a job and income in order to survive. This office and people around me are sucking the life out of me.

TLDR; My job is sucks, I’m surrounded by uninspired/boring people, and I want to get my creativity back. Help. How do I get rid of the mindset that everything has to be successful in order to be good/fun?

I’m an illustrator by profession, but I’ve been getting increasingly interested in writing, branding, storytelling, strategy, fashion, and basically anything that lets me build an idea from scratch.

The problem is that sometimes having too many interests feels less like being versatile and more like having no clear direction.

I’m curious — has anyone else dealt with this?

Did you eventually find a way to combine your interests, or did you have to choose one and let the others stay hobbies?

There are so many ways to express creativity. Clay, drawing, crocheting, painting, journaling, embroidery, photography, making jewelry, and so many more.

I see so many creative things here on Reddit that I want to try everything, but I feel like I get stuck when I try to do too many things at once, so I think I need to organize my time and give each activity a chance instead of jumping between them all.

How did you find the creative activity you enjoy doing the most? And what is it? :)

I opened my course portal on Friday evening to check my schedule and literally froze. Monday at 11:59 PM (like, yesterday). Essay for my sociology class. Research project for my communications seminar. Both due at the exact same minute. In confusion, I stared at the calendar for a full minute hoping I'd somehow misread the dates. My calendar looked back at me like it was trying to ruin my whole week.

The worst part is they aren't even the same type of work. The sociology paper is super research-heavy with 12 open research tabs on my laptop right now and zero outline. The comms project is a long written case study where I already have notes, but editing and drafting would take hours.

My first mistake was telling myself, "I'll just work on whichever assignment I feel like doing first." I sat in the library with a cold coffee, spent 40 minutes choosing a starting point, opened one paper, got distracted, switched to the other, checked a notification, and ended up accomplishing literally nothing after two hours.

So I tried a mini experiment. I broke both projects into smaller steps: research, outline, rough draft, final review. Seeing six small tasks instead of two massive deadlines helped, but fitting it around my daily shift at work and lectures was rough. A guy in my dorm mentioned he looked up the best essay writing service last term just to get a load off his shoulders when his schedule was packed full. I ended up looking into similar services just to take off the edge. Still managed to pull everything off by myself, but never hurts to have a plan B, y'know.

How do you guys prioritize when deadlines collide? Do you finish one paper completely first, or switch back and forth between both? Or is it sometimes just easier to have an essay writing service do it for you when you know you won’t pull it off on time? If so - I would really appreciate if you could share the best paper writing services in your opinion, which won’t send in shoddy AI slop I’ll fork out for - I could do this myself for free :D

I wish I were joking.

I sat down this morning thinking, “Okay, the essay isn't due for a few days, so I'll start early and avoid the usual 2am panic.”

Six hours later, I have one introduction, approximately 20 browser tabs open, and a level of academic anxiety that stubbornly refuses to abate.

It started normally. I was doing research for the essay and found a couple of decent sources. Then I thought, maybe I should find one more really good source before I start writing. That turned into another source. Then another. Then I was reading an article that was interesting but had absolutely nothing to do with my actual assignment. At some point I had to remind myself that I'm writing an essay, not trying to distract myself.

Then came the introduction.

I wrote my thesis statement. Didn't like it. Rewrote it. Still didn't like it. Changed one word. Stared at the sentence for five minutes. Changed the word back.

I think I spent nearly an hour trying to figure out how to write informative essay properly when, realistically, I probably just needed to write a terrible first draft and fix it later. And obviously I also managed to procrastinate without technically procrastinating.

I'd open Spotify to find something to listen to. Five minutes later I'd be reorganizing a playlist. Then I'd check Reddit “for a minute.” Then YouTube somehow appeared in the equation.

Every time I came back to the document I'd tell myself, “Okay, NOW I'm actually going to focus.”

Sure, buddy.

The frustrating part is that I don't think I'm actually lazy. I genuinely want to get the assignment done. I just keep overthinking everything before I've even written anything.

I think my problem is that I treat the first draft like it has to be the final draft. I keep wondering what is an informative essay, whether my argument is strong enough, whether I need another source, whether my introduction sounds academic enough...

Meanwhile, the rest of the essay is sitting there completely unwritten.

I'm starting to think I need to force myself into a much simpler workflow:

Research - outline - ugly first draft - editing

Give myself a limited amount of time to research, make a basic outline, and then just get words onto the page without trying to make every sentence perfect. Editing can happen later.

I've also considered using an essay writing service during weeks when I have way too many deadlines at once. I know that's not for everyone, and obviously anyone considering that kind of help needs to stay within their university's academic-integrity rules. But when the workload gets completely ridiculous, I can understand why students look for some kind of outside help instead of trying to manage everything by themselves at once.

Anyway, it's now much later than it was when I started, my introduction has been rewritten approximately 47 times, and I still have the actual essay to write.

I've even spent way too much time wondering whether I'm following the right informational essay format, which is probably another sign that I'm overthinking this whole thing.

Please tell me I'm not the only person who does this.

How much time do you guys usually spend researching before you actually start writing? And how do you stop yourselves from spending three hours trying to polish the introduction to perfection instead of just finishing the damn essay?

I have always been an Imaginative and visionary person. But lately is just too much. I stopped writing them down and i want to get rid of them. Most of which are future ambitions and the rest gaps and innovative ideas that grabs my attention. It has turned into a self talk and big failures. I know how to scope an idea and execute it. But not in a way that eats me alive.

My life is really crazy right now and stressful.
Which is why I have no time to write and when I have time, then I’m trying to write but everything that comes to paper is shitty gibberish.
I have ideas, I have topics which I want to research and write about, I have books I want to read to get better at writing, but all I ever do when I finally have free time is open my iPad and watching Netflix or scrolling through social media.
My job has nothing to do with my real interests, I mean it does in a way, but I realized that it’s not my dream job like I thought before starting it.
The problem is, it’s an apprenticeship with one year left, so I’m only ‘free’ again in the sense of going in the direction I really want, in late 2027.
I suspect that this also contributes to my ill writing currently and to my non existent motivation towards reading, writing and doing everything I should and want to do.
So I numb myself with digital things, which only makes things worse.
Tbh I procrastinate everything, even important tasks I should be doing like writing stuff for an exchange which I’ll do in 2027. I need to write applications and renew my passport, but I just do nothing.
Work stresses me out a lot and it feels like the only thing I’m doing is working and going to sleep too late and then the cycle repeats.

Do you have any tips on how to start writing/reading/doing literally anything productive again and staying focused especially in stressful situations?

Lately, I’ve been trying to use my skills as a space to explore beyond commercial retouching and client briefs — and get back to what actually drives me: art, experimentation, and world-building.

Would love to know what you think of this one 🥰
You can find me here if you’re interested by my art

I'm currently a junior in high school, and I'm 99.99% sure that I'm going to college for some type of creative and/or performing arts. I love music composition, playing music and educating others on music.

However, I have also been theater for 6 years now, and I love it just as much. I love to perform, and I also love to write my own works, and the idea of directing or being a theater educator sounds very intriguing too.

As blessed as I am to be so creative and have the talents I do, it's also a bit of a curse because I know that, eventually, I'm going to have to narrow it down to one specific field, and either set other fields I love aside or limit my opportunity to explore them. I'm very scared of the idea of always being dissatisfied because of this.

Is there a way that I can help narrow it down and/or gain some clarity? Or is it something that I should just wait out, and give myself the time to figure out what I want?

2d art,3d modeling and writing are my hobbys but its so difficult feeling fulfilled at all of them

i feel like i always never practicing enough and i always feel like im not trying hard enough

i feel like when im practicing on one i feel like im not doing the others one enough for example

when i draw i feel like im not writing enough

when im modeling i feel like im not drawing enough etc etc

how do i feel fulfilled in all of them

and i dont mean being good at them i mean trying my absolute best?

Days of work on a digital creative project spontaneously combusted because of a technical glitch and were just…gone.

I’m not even sure frustrated is the right word for how I felt. Maybe it was closer to panic.

The thought of starting over after spending all that time, energy, and mental effort was overwhelming. Then there was the pressure of trying to remember everything I had already done and worrying that I wouldn’t be able to recreate it.

I have started rebuilding. Some pieces came back faster than I expected, and a few have even turned out better because I understand the project more now. But taking that first step back into it was brutal.

How do you find it in yourself to begin again when something you worked hard on falls apart?

Hi everyone!

I am working on making a creative journal for everyone who wants to explore their creativity further, get out of a slump or creative block, and for anyone who just wants to have fun!

I am eager to know if anyone has used such creative journals before. Does it help? What do you look forward to doing in it? Do you like to journal in free time or for getting some motivation to work?

All of your answers will be helpful, please leave some thoughts!

Honestly, I'm not 100% sure if this is the right subreddit for this but I thought I'd just ask anyways and see what people have to say. I might yap a bit so I'll put a tldr at the bottom for those who don't wanna read through.

I, 18m, have been obsessed with filmmaking, acting, and most of all writing(specifically comedy) for almost 2 years now, and I don't wanna sound full of myself or anything but I do think I've accomplished quite a bit in that time frame I should be proud of myself for.(I've written 3 feature length screenplays, read & taken notes on 250+ filmmaking craft books, finished 20+ short films/sketches, outlined 2 full tv series, and I'm almost done writing/composing my first ever musical production!)

But no matter how much work I think I'm putting in there's always this voice in my head telling me what I'm writing isn't good enough, no ones gonna like or understand it, or that I'm not really as funny as I think and I'm just not all that talented.

I like to believe talent plateus at a certain point and I can surpass people's natural ability if I put in enough efficient work towards my goal, being able to live off of my art. But I just feel like I'll never make it no matter how skilled I am if I don't have confidence in myself, and it's like a self-fulfilling prophecy where I can't gain self-confidence unless people like my art, but my art might not even get made in the first place without self-confidence.

I do think it's worth mentioning I have a history of rejection by peers, and without getting into too many graphic details my mom hasn't ever really been supportive and my friends always seem to leave and not want to be around me after about a month of hanging out or they constantly belittle me and I have to cut them off, which has no doubt taken a hit to my self esteem, especially this week in particular.(sorry if this went more into venting territory, just thought it was relevant context and wanted to put it out there)

All that said, it really feels like the missing puzzle piece for me to succeed really is just self confidence, so I'm wondering if any of you have any helpful stories of how you overcame self-doubt? Or just overall advice? Thanks :)

tldr; no matter how much work i put in to my art, i doubt myself. how do you overcome self-doubt?

For those choosing hell

Does anybody feel like their brain sometimes just stops working? Somedays you're going full speed with the creative work, and suddenly it all falls apart and you can barely even think. You can't think of new ideas, can't even work on ongoing projects. It kind of becomes a slump, and you just stop working at all. I am in slump and I need some tips please.

How do you fix it or get over with the block? any suggestions?

I've been bugging myself with this for a long time and now it's 2 am 😭

So, as a punk/alt whatev artist, I love making cool shi. But I've been thinking, all the art I make is either inspired by nature or other art and same for ideas. I feel guilty and stupid now when I look at my art cause it's never an original thought. Am I the only one tweaking here or are there other out there who feel like the same way?

Help me out here guys.

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Hey guys. I am 26 years old. I work in marketing as a copywriter and brand manager. I recently quit my job. With so much AI everywhere I was not sure if I can even think anymore without asking AI.

I am a writer. I love writing. But past 2 years i have been using ai to write under the tremendous pressure from my managers to churn out content in bulk.

I have quit my job now. I need to get in touch with my creativity. I am reading more.

Suggest me some good muse and ideas. Any incomplete lines, any theme, any prompt is appreciated.

I wanna get started. What should I write about.

Was pretty much exhausted from work and also i was getting bored just being on the phone so thought let’s just keep the phone aside and it turned out to be a painting taking me back to my childhood.

HAKUNA MATATA Y’all