We create bubbles for ourselves. Little routines and ways of life that are comfortable, but that also eliminate spontaneity and serendipity from our lives. But spontaneity and serendipity are vital for maintaining perspective, really vital for a full life.

This is why a small group of friends concerned with encouraging a spirit of community across time, and projects that encourage cultural conservation, for Penn Staters and Central Pennsylvania’s Nittany Valley have been coming together in Philadelphia (and sometimes in Pittsburgh) once a year even though our projects focus on a relatively small town in the middle of the Commonwealth. We realized at our founding that if our work was to be successful over the long term, it needed to speak to Penn Staters and friends of the Nittany Valley across the Commonwealth—not just in the place a portion of them visit from time to time.

So we’re meeting tomorrow at Pipeline Philly, a great coworking space located directly across from City Hall in the Grant Building.