Liminal spaces
Tuesday, 12 November 2024
This year, I traveled more than ever before in my life. I spent a lot of time in liminal spaces (airports, train/metro stations), often late at night or very early in the morning.
I have some loose thoughts.
Liminal spaces are empty or abandoned places that appear eerie, forlorn, and often surreal.
A liminal space is the time between the “what was” and the “next”. It is a place of transition, waiting, and not knowing. Liminal space is where all transformation takes place, if we learn to wait and let it form us.
– r/LiminalSpace description
Part 1. Arrival
I arrive at the airport at night, sometimes with a friend, but usually alone, save for the occasional silent rideshare driver. I’ve made memories and said my goodbyes.
A last glimpse of the city I’m leaving behind.
A few times I had an overnight layover. Even huge airports become mostly empty at night. It’s easier to spot a rat running between empty chairs than another human being.
It’s eerie.
Part 2. Transition
Once I go through security, there’s no going back.
In that moment, the present dies and becomes past, forever. But at the same time, a new future is born.
The past feels safe, known, comfortable. The future, on the other hand, is an unknown.
Will the future, the one that is just beginning, be better than what I’ve experienced so far? Or maybe it’ll be worse? How could I even tell?
All I know for sure is that it will be different.
Part 3. Difference
Even if I come back to the place that I’m departing from, it will be different.
Everything changes. People change. Circumstances change. I change.
I am richer for the experience, but poorer for those few drops of water that became tears.
