A Seedling Seeking Soil: Community and a Third Space
Written by Alaa Idris
Before I ever imagined boarding a plane for Japan, I was somewhere else entirely — in a quiet ache, longing for community. A place where care, consideration, unique contribution and mutual uplift were the currency. That longing is what led me to even discover Caravan Tales — not just a travel group, but a container in a sense for something I had been craving.
At the time, I didn’t fully understand what the essence of community was. I only knew how I wanted to feel: rooted and like what I had could be a contribution to something greater than me. Then, through either selective attention or the quiet orchestration of Allah’s qadr, I found myself at a Ramadan talk on community at ADAMS Center, and later at a poetry retreat in Razján Village — where I met two women whose words surrounding purpose and presence stayed with me. When I heard Japan 2025 pitched by Nida, I said yes immediately. No testimonials needed.
But I didn’t realize how deeply the journey would plant seeds in me.
What struck me the most initially was how different Japan felt from American culture — particularly in how people relate to one another. In the U.S., so much of our movement is individual-first. But in Japan, there’s a collective awareness built into daily life — in the way people navigate public space, hold silence, clean up after themselves. It made me reflect on what it means to exist with consideration, not just freedom.
And then came one of many moving moments:
While river-cleaning with a self-started community volunteer group, I met Anna-san, who later welcomed us into her newly opened shop in the small, quaint town of Kameoka. The space she had created was simple, but it was powerful. She brought together friends who were bakers, artists, and farmers, and offered a space for their crafts and voices to be shared with the community. It wasn’t just a store. It was a third space — organic, intentional, and quietly radical.
What she built reminded me of what I’ve been searching for since college into my adulthood— a place between home and hustle, where people can gather without performance. Where presence and who you uniquely are can live. Where nourishment — emotional, creative, and spiritual — is freely given.
That space, and this journey, have become the soil where my own seedling of intention has been planted.
I’ll carry this vision forward and build strive to build something like it one day- a third space build by your very own people for your people.
