Liminal Spaces: A Theory Concerning Our Existence

"I have been one acquainted with the night." Videos like this take a LOT of work; you can show your support and gain access to behind-the-scene commentary on www.patreon.com/clarkelieson

I read an interesting theory that our aversion to “liminal spaces” is a survival instinct. For animals, if a normally busy and safe area is deserted, it means that something bad or dangerous is happening. Who knows, though. It’s interesting that this is a universal feeling everyone gets.

I find liminal spaces absolutely fascinating. Almost to the point of hypnotizing, actually.

I know nobody cares, and it’s only there for a brief moment, but I took the picture of the gymnasium at 8:24. It’s from Åsveienhallen in Trondheim, Norway.

If you look at birth being the start of your journey and death being you final destination then life becomes a liminal space with seemingly no escape. Which perpetuates the feeling of unease we get when thinking about life or death because of the the fear of the unknown. I'm not sure if that was the intended undertone of the content but that's what I got from it. This video is amazing and has so many layers that could be peeled back and explored.

“Moments frozen in time” are perhaps the most comforting things for me. I have a hard time accepting that things change but finding places that are untouched by time bring me relief. This also plays into my fascination with abandoned cities.

Used to be a high school night shift janitor. Schools with nobody in them at night are liminal af. So is the factory I work at once I'm the last one there and half the lights are off.

The backstage/behind the curtain area during a theatrical performance is a very powerful liminal space. You are not yourself because you're a character, but you're not onstage so you're not performing. You are literally in between worlds. It is a magical and bizarre place to inhabit.

Not related but related: Working as a DJ, one of my most uncanny feelings is when a big nightclub is just opening for the evening - music is blasting and disco lights are flashing, but no one is there yet. It's like a huge production for no one. It always makes me feel oddly philosophical, like "who is this for?" That "who is this for" feels like a 5th part of the definition of liminal space angst. Why are the lights on if this place is empty? Why is a fountain on in the middle of the night? Why is someone keeping the place clean?

“Please don’t watch this at night” me sitting here in the dark at 2am

if you guys are a fan of liminal spaces i'd recommend steven kings "the langoliers" its where this group of people wake up on a plane and they become literally stuck in the past and they're the only ones left

As someone who's been mentally and physically sick for a long time it is calming for me as it reminds me of all those nights I've been awake at night, wondering around, and feeling happy as now it is my turn to enjoy everything that exists. As day is too much, night is calm and perfect.

I love liminal spaces. They honestly just make me feel at peace, and the “nothing” feels almost like acceptance. I don’t know why. Maybe I’m feeling them wrong? Who knows.

Existence is the weirdest rabbit hole, it’s such a dumb fact that everyone accepts, but the more you dive into it, the more your brain unravels lmao. Great video!

I absolutely love and adore the eerie feeling of liminal spaces. I’ve often wished for a video game that was nothing but a liminal space to walk around and explore for hours

I used to get that eerie feeling every time I had to go into work (grocery store) super early in the morning while the lights were dim and nobody shopping. Dark isles, untouched groceries and all alone. Not to mention really tired. If I let my imagination run for just a little I could swear that place felt haunted but only when I let myself feel it.

Is it strange that I’m actually comforted by liminal spaces? I often fantasize about being alone in the world, just so I could explore the empty city I live in without any restrictions. So I could go back to places in my past where so much of my life happened, and yet I can’t go back ever again. The idea that liminal spaces are nothing itself is very interesting to me, because I never knew why I wanted to do that to myself. It would drive me insane, literally, but now I have a theory. I think it’s because being in nothing reminds me that I exist. I’ve gotten this feeling lately that as I grow older, I’m getting further away from home. Everything in my childhood was the ultimate familier, and as time has changed, so has the world become less and less familier to me. Maybe I want to be in those places because they’re as close to familier for me as anything could be at this point. That’s sad isn’t it? That the world is so uncomfortable to me now that these liminal spaces offer more belonging to me. Idk I’m just speaking off the cuff here.

“Logic will get you from A to Z; imagination will get you everywhere.” ― Albert Einstein

My example of purgatory/hell is driving up an empty mountain road with lots of twists and turns at night. It's seemingly never ending, who knows how close or far away the top is? And there's no one else around to confirm it isn't a dream. But it isn't. Home is an hour away, but that hour feels infinite.

I used to work for a cleaning company who did overnight jobs in places like clinics, hospitals, and stores. Seeing places that are normally super well-lit and busy be totally empty and dim is a weird cross between fear and contentment I can't describe~