Your liminal experience

[sun rise]

I came across the word "liminal" the other day and realized that I did not know what it meant. So first - Google search produced:

What does it mean to feel liminal?

The word "liminal" comes from the Latin word “limen,” which means threshold. To be in a liminal space means to be on the precipice of something new but not quite there yet. You can be in a liminal space physically, emotionally, or metaphorically. Being in a liminal space can be incredibly uncomfortable for most people.

So liminal could refer to what Islamic sufism calls "fana" (death of the old) and "baqa" birth of the new, Christian theology of the end times, political as in successful revolutions after the old order is deposed or something very personal.

 

[sun rise]

For me personally it was looking for a career. I had finished school, had a job that did not work out and was having a hard time finding something permanent. I remember thinking that unless something changed, I would become destitute and homeless. It was an "incredibly uncomfortable" period in my life.

 

[JustGeorge]

What other way is there to be?

I can't remember not feeling 'liminal'...

 

[RestlessSoul]

This week, it feels like we are all in 'Chrimbo Limbo'.

 

[crossfire]

What other way is there to be?

I can't remember not feeling 'liminal'...

I was thinking the same thing. Even stagnancy can be considered as liminal.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

I can't remember not feeling 'liminal'...

Then you're probably misusing the term.

 

[It Aint Necessarily So]

The word "liminal" comes from the Latin word “limen,” which means threshold. To be in a liminal space means to be on the precipice of something new but not quite there yet. You can be in a liminal space physically, emotionally, or metaphorically.

I think of the word in terms of psychological experiences, as when something is on the tip of one's tongue in limbo between forgotten and remembered, or when first awakening (hypnogogic state) or falling asleep (hypnopompic state), when between consciousness and unconsciousness. That's where I first became aware of it.

Another interesting and related word is inchoate, or "just begun and so not fully formed or developed; rudimentary."

 

[JustGeorge]

Then you're probably misusing the term.

Its possible. And I suppose I used it loosely, either way... I have many rather mundane moments.

But I think the feeling of being 'in between' or 'in transit' or 'on the verge' is common enough that its not unfamiliar here. Such comes with an unpredictable life, filled with unpredictable people, in situations where one can take nothing for granted...

I may be unintentionally misusing the word, though, or misunderstanding.

 

[crossfire]

I don't consider myself to be an Edgelord by any means, but yeah, I usually reside in (my own) liminal space, always trying to test and push the boundaries. The breakthroughs outweigh the discomfort, imo.

 

[Quintessence]

The term has a fairly specific meaning in my religious tradition - it designates a time between time, a space between spaces, a primordial and void-like state that utterly transcends typical human concepts of existence and nonexistence. It is honored during Winter Solstice and its tide, by embracing the darkness, quiet snowfalls, and resting season.

 

[Ella S.]

I learned the term "liminal" because liminality is associated with the archetype of Saturn, who in the Greek Magical Papyri was associated with a variety of liminal spaces such as hallways and antechambers. It was neat to find that some ancients had an appreciation for these little, oft-overlooked facets of the world around us, too.

Years later, the horror-themed meme of the backrooms popularized the concept of liminal spaces as being something scary, with pictures of empty liminal spaces like parking lots, air ports, grocery aisles, office halls, etc. This is also the real subtext behind Saturn being associated with these areas, as Saturn was often see as foreboding and ominous.

I'm adding it to the list of things I like that most people find creepy, like spiders, moths, hospitals, brutalist architecture, etc. I think these are probably signs that there's just a fundamentally different way that I look at and experience the world from most people, especially since I really don't understand other people to begin with.

I think a large part of my enjoyment of things that other people find creepy, especially in the case of liminal spaces and hospitals, is their lack of what some people call "humanity." What makes liminal spaces creepy is that there are no people in them and they tend to be absent of spurious decoration. Part of what makes hospitals creepy is that they're clinical, detached, and incredibly pragmatic. I feel more comfortable with those things, though.

I wonder if it's because I just have a very asocial temperament, but I find isolation and the absence of other people very soothing rather than distressing.

 

[Revoltingest]

My favorite thesaurus denies the existence "liminal".
I wondered if it would suggest "nascent".