The Ultimate Liminal Space
Your bedroom at 4am when the rest of the world is sleeping. Empty parking lots at night after it rains, and the pavement smells damp. Rest stops on desert highways. Schools during breaks when class isn’t in session. Unfamiliar McDonald’s on long road trips. Stairwells when you’re the only one on the steps. Playgrounds at night. Waiting rooms. Airports. Trains.
This is weird right? All of these things give you the same strange feeling that you can’t seem to articulate. They are places where reality is a bit altered. Well, they are called liminal spaces, and I find them quite fascinating. Liminal means ‘threshold’. You can read more in-depth about the definition of it and the different forms of liminality here. Basically, they are like throughways from one space to the next. Time passageways. Places like rest stops, trains, parking lots and airports feel weird when you are in them because their existence doesn’t come from their definitive being; it’s about what comes before and after them. Therefore, reality feels altered because we are not supposed to be in these places at specific times or for long periods of time. When we are, they feel out of the ordinary. We like certain things to maintain a consistent place and time because our brains form context for all of these things. But when they don’t match up with these contexts, we are left with this strange feeling that is very hard to explain in plain words. I think most people are disturbed by this peculiar awareness because everything around you is moving, yet you are not. Time becomes relative and this hyperawareness can be overwhelming. For me, I find liminal spaces to be comforting. They offer perspective. A moment to pause and marvel at the world in its entirety.
Ever since COVID-19 rolled through and shook our world, I have been calling it the Ultimate Liminal Space. It was like this mandatory pause that every single person in the world had to take, and it’s like we are all stuck in this “in-between”. The entire world is a liminal space. Since the shutdown, social distancing and stay-at-home orders, there are empty parking lots, airport terminals, and school campuses everywhere. The physical presence of these spaces are very apparent, but more than that, it seems like we are all experiencing this internal liminality as well. There is an article I read that delved deeper into the mental and psychological part of this weird altered reality that we are living in right now. You can read more here. These spaces give us time. Time to think, reflect, and grow in our understanding of ourselves and the world around us. It’s a time of transition. We don’t know when this pause going to end, but while we are in it, it’s all we can do to think about how we are going to come out of this. Living in this liminal space can be frustrating, but ultimately, time can heal, and we can come out of this with growth and at least a new perspective on life.
I’ve found that my favorite liminal space was whenever I was outside the campus coffee shop right around midnight. I just liked to sit there on the ground under the light of the one lamp post, sometimes with my guitar. It’s interesting because in the mornings and all throughout the day, this place is teeming with life and people and noise and color. But at night, when all of that diminishes, there’s a strange quietness that settles over that place like a blanket. A comforting silence where I could just sit and be. It’s such a sharp contrast that is completely captivating.
People might be challenged or find discomfort in places like this, but I feel like I am always seeking them out. If anything, they are absolutely mesmerizing to me. And even with all the chaos and uncertainty that is going on right now, my hope is that we all emerge from this liminal space with a greater sense of self and maybe some growth.
Feel free to comment your favorite liminal space, I’d love to know.
xoxo
Nena
