Places where reality is a bit altered:
playgrounds at night
rest stops on highways
deep in the mountains
early in the morning wherever itโs just snowed
trails by the highway just out of earshot of traffic
schools during breaks
those little beaches right next to ferry docks
bowling alleys
unfamiliar mcdonalds on long roadtrips
your friends living room once everybody but you is asleep
laundromats at midnight
โข any target โข churches in texas โข abandoned 7/11โs โข your bedroom at 5 am โข hospitals at midnight โข warehouses that smell like dust โข lighthouses with lights that donโt work anymore โข empty parking lots โข ponds and lakes in suburban neighborhoods โข rooftops in the early morning โข inside a dark cabinet
galeries in art museums that are empty except for youย
the lighting section of home depot
stairwells
โขhospital waiting rooms โขairports from midnight to 7am โข bathrooms in small concert venues
I just got the weirdest feeling I swear
OK LISTEN THERE ARE REASONS FOR THIS!!!
A lot of these places are called liminal spaces - which means they are throughways from one space to the next. Places like rest stops, stairwells, trains, parking lots, waiting rooms, airports feel weird when youโre in them because their existence is not about themselves, but the things before and after them. They have no definitive place outside of their relationship to the spaces you are coming from and going to. Reality feels altered here because weโre not really supposed to be in them for a long time for think about them as their own entities, and when we do they seem odd and out of place.
The other spaces feel weird because our brains are hard-wired for context - we like things to belong to a certain place and time and when we experience those things outside of the context our brains have developed for them, our brains are like NOPE SHIT THIS ISNโT RIGHT GET OUT ABORT ABORT. Schools not in session, empty museums, being awake when other people are asleep - all these things and spaces feel weird because our brain is likeย โI already have a context for this space and this is not it so it must be dangerous.โ Our rational understanding can sometimes override that immediateย โdangerโ impulse but weโre still left with a feeling of wariness and unease.ย
Listen I am very passionate about liminal spaces they are fascinating stuff or perhaps I am merely a nerd.ย
I, for one, appreciate your passion for liminal spaces and thank you for explaining it to the rest of us.
I get the playgrounds at night because I walk to one thatโs near my house at night sometimes and hang out. I always feel like Iโm being watched or followed, or rather something out of the ordinary is happening
