ON LIMINAL SPACES

 Liminal spaces. Everyone's heard of them by now, right? The 2020 to 2024 golden age of them, with Exit 8 and The Backrooms and all of that.

My problem? I Don't like The Backrooms. I don't like Exit 8. But I love liminal spaces.

Everyone's seen this damn wallpaper by now, yeah? The oh so spooky, scary, yellow rooms! No-clipping through space time reality! Monsters chasing you! Horror is what people think of when they think of liminal spaces. The now overdone tropes of liminal spaces somehow being Wrong.

I really, really hate that. Liminal spaces aren't just about being afraid, in fact, that's not even the main schtick! 

Wikipedia says that "Broadly, the term liminal space is used to describe a place or state of change or transition" and that "The aesthetic may convey moods of eeriness, surrealness, nostalgia, or sadness, and elicit responses of both comfort and unease"

So, why is it all unease? Why is it that everywhere I look, I see liminal spaces depicted as these horrifying, terrible things!

Liminal spaces are comforting. To me.

Think to your favorite movie, or at least one you've seen in theatres.

Were you scared, walking down those empty halls? Would you have been scared, if the movie started and you were alone in the theatre?

I wasn't. I was free. I had never felt so free in my life. There is something so, so comforting about a liminal space. You won't stay here forever, but the time that you do is almost mystical. Have you ever felt disorientated, finally walking out of the movie theatre to either harsh daylight or a foreign night? Instantly sobered, once reality struck again?

Wouldn't you wish to go back to the comfort of escapism?

Would you, or would you not, allow yourself to live in an empty movie theatre? See whatever's running, get overly expensive buttered popcorn. Roll around on the strange carpeted floor and breath in that smell that you only recognize as the theatre itself, nothing more?

I would take that deal in a heartbeat. Cradled by this, unreality. I want nothing more.

Now, think of a gas station. Or a supermarket.

Think of just wandering around the isles, looking at every miscellaneous snack and sweet they have. The strange variants of gummy bears you haven't heard of, pizza flavored chips that you're pretty sure would give you food poisoning.

Wasn't it nice, only thinking about them, if only for these brief moments before checkout? Wouldn't it be nice, to be able to stay in a gas station, surrounded by catalogued items that you won't need, but still want?

Weren't the grocery stores nice for the same reason? Infinite things at your finger tips- if you had around twenty dollars. Five, maybe, if you just want a snack.

Really, any store in reality. They felt so nice. Even if people were around you, they didn't care about you. They wanted their milk and eggs and bread, and you could just wander looking for something to eat.

Finally, think of an airport. The most controversial one of them all.

Full of wandering people, some knowing where they're going, some not. Sure, there are some crying infants, but if you put on headphones and turn it all the way up, you'll find yourself in the same zombie-like trance as the crowd.

You usually have a few hours before your plane actually launches, leading you to do nothing at all. Wandering, sleeping, checking out the over-expensive tacky clothes some stands are selling, alongside the 12 dollar chocolate bars (at best!)

Think of not caring what anybody thinks of you, because they're out of it too. You've all woken up too early, you've all stayed up too late. It doesn't matter how you dress, sound, nothing matters at all. You're just another person, and they're just trying to get to their exit.

Play puzzle games on your phone, maybe. Read a book. Pass the time however you want, before you're boarded onto another place that doesn't feel like your home at all. You're free here, if you get past the long lines and long wait times.

You don't need to care about anything.

...So, in conclusion, I like liminal spaces.

I like the transience they give me, the lack of worry. The still, placid calmness is all I need. All I want.

The world keeps passing by me, so I'd just like a safe place to stay while it takes the last train out.

And, I'm sick and tired of them being used for horror. The stillness isn't the horror, your mind is. The outside is. Just shut it all off and enjoy your movie, okay?