It’s Not Just About Physical Spaces: What is Liminal Space and How Does It Affect You?
Liminal spaces represent a process of transformation, both physical and mental, and are therefore an important concept in many different disciplines. Let’s examine what it is!
If you’re like most people, you may have noticed that there are certain places or situations where you feel off or uncomfortable.
Such places can often be places such as empty bus stops and airport terminals. Often, these disturbing spaces can be described as liminal spaces.
Liminal space comes from the Latin word “limen” meaning “threshold”. It may also be referred to as ‘liminality’.
Such spaces often have a desolate atmosphere and are associated with an aesthetic disconnected from the concept of reality. At the same time, such places are waiting areas between one point and the next point in time and space. So it’s kind of like a stop.
Liminal space can, of course, be an actual space, and there are many examples of places that feel like they are on the threshold.
However, there are also areas of limitation in our mental states. These are also types of liminal spaces.
Being somewhere outside our routine can often feel uncomfortable.
Some people even think that being in such areas and watching a horror movie give them similar feelings.
Such areas are often abandoned places, stairwells, airport lobbies, elevators, empty art galleries, empty hotel corridors and parking lots.
But there are also some non-physical liminal spaces. Some of these may be the emptiness of divorce, the emptiness after job loss, or the emptiness of moving to a new place.
People can sometimes see themselves in such areas in their dreams.
Indeed, some people use the art of liminal dreaming to enhance their creativity. Liminal dreaming is the state in which we are not fully asleep yet, but our mind experiences vivid images or sounds. This situation is also called hypnoidal dreaming.
Liminal spaces can pose a big challenge for some people.
Physical or emotional liminal spaces can cause an increased sense of uneasiness for some people. If you’re uncomfortable in these places or feel like you’re living on the edge, talking to a therapist may help.
