The Comfort of Liminal Spaces (and The Desire to Disappear)

Liminal Spaces have been a popular subject on youtube for the last few months. But while everybody talks about them being creepy and unsetteling, nobody appreciates the comfort that those seemingly basic picture can provide.
In this video I talk about how liminal spaces can be a source of comfort when you're in the right state of mind...or much rather in a bad state of mind...
- Scrabbl

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▶Music used at 00:00: The Caretaker - Libet's Delay
▶Music used at 01:32: The Caretaker - My heart will stop in joy

▶Timestamps:
0:00 - Intro
03:21 - Chapter 1 - What is a Liminal Spaces?
09:38 - Chapter 2 - Where do they come from?
14:21 - Chapter 3 - What makes them creepy?
20:26 - Chapter 4 - What do comfortable liminal spaces look like?
25:06 - Chapter 5 - What makes liminal spaces comfortable?

#liminalspace #liminalspaces #liminal

[Scrabbl]

Youtube compression really screwed me over on this one. The live-action stuff looks really pixelated here. I apologize, can't really change that :/

[miriam]

When I look at certain liminal spaces, it gives me this beautiful forlorn feeling. Like looking at a picture of an old place in your childhood hometown you will never go to again, or a picture of an old friend you don’t talk to anymore. Something that remains as only a memory, the fuzzy quality of the pictures kind of looks like how memories look in your mind, the details unclear but the feelings remain.

[wideeyedwiseguy]

Throughout my life I've found myself fantasizing about being the only person in the world for just one day. That way I would be free to explore anywhere I wanted without consequence, and I wouldn't need to worry too much about survival as I would feel safe with the knowledge that everyone would be back the next day. To me liminal space images act as a brief window into what that scenario would be like. Really well made video, it's nice to see this aspect of the liminal space phenomenon explored.

[PotassiumIsDumb]

My mental health is great but liminal spaces give me a positive feeling that can’t describe it’s like nothing I’ve felt.

[Nagasakevideo]

Finally someone says it. Liminal space images (without people adding crazy monsters) always made me feel comfortable and at home

[ajclarke]

This may be an introvert / extrovert thing. But to me, the feeling I get from abandoned malls, pools, cinemas, etc. is one of freedom. They seem like cool places to hang out when no one else is there—an escape from all the noise, expectations, and constraints. I dream of being able to move into an abandoned mall. That would be so cool… except for the amenity costs.

[FastCarsNoRules]

I actually went for a walk at around my old neighborhood and elementary school at like 2 in the morning and it felt like I was in a different dimension. It's like a representation of my life when I used to be happy and carefree, but now it's just dark and empty.

[StarryNightxx]

Pretty much these images are the closest reflection of what the world looks like through a childs lense, at least in my opinion from my own point of view. It brings back a very specific nostalgia of what it was like being so small in such a big world, places feeling familiar but not yet recognizing the patterns, locations constantly being new and unfamiliar.

[ThethTrashRat]

I experience derealization and depersonalization a lot. while it may seem scary, its weirdly comforting. It's like I'm the only person in my own little liminal world, mine to keep that no one can hurt anymore.

[gubzs]

I think part of the creepiness is that, while liminal spaces look abandoned, they haven't overgrown, rotten, or otherwise decayed. That adds an unsettling layer of "life does not come to this place, even time itself will leave me alone here."
It took me forever to really nail that down but I think that's a *huge* part of it.

[swagstorm]

Liminal spaces are like a dream to me. To just disappear into these empty places with seemingly no context or goal. To forget the stress of life and just explore the eerie lonely areas, where your only goal is to just appreciate what you are seeing.

[tatija]

This is why I love Edward Hopper's paintings. So many people have said his artworks are empty and isolated places, containing dread. All my life I've seen his paintings as so very comforting. I want to be there. I see beauty in his places. I want to be there.

[ren]

I have social anxiety and am suspected of being on the autism spectrum. People always overwhelm me and I have a constant desire to be alone. I like to daydream about exploring a world that has no people at all, just for a little while. Liminal spaces are the closest thing I can get to that experience

[MarkToast]

I'm so glad someone else gets this feeling. For a ton of my life growing up, I just had this desire to disappear. Or maybe it was a desire for everyone else to disappear. When I would lay in bed at night I would imagine myself stepping through some sort of tear in space and walking into an exact copy of the world that had zero people in it. I'd imagine walking around in my city with nobody around, no noise, no anything. It always made me feel so good.

[gllphoto]

When I was a teenager I used to dream a lot about being alone in big spaces like supermarkets, malls, hotels, airports and places like that. I never felt uneasy, alone or scared in those places, I was actually having a blast exploring those. Liminal spaces bring me back to those memories and it´s true that monsters and other entities ruin them. It´s all about being with yourself in this crazy busy world.

[hayley]

I think they give me comfort for the same reason airports help me relax. They are places where I'm not required to be doing anything. I can just exist there.

[myfriendkirby]

"have you ever wondered why liminal spaces feel to empty? it's because you're supposed to fill the void."
GOD. WHAT A LINE. *VERY* well done.

[AMartwithadash]

To me, liminal spaces kind of feel like a manifestation of your mind existentially wandering all over the place when you're by yourself and you got nothing to do. As a fellow content creator, this video essay is really inspiring from deconstructive point of view. Very well analyzed.

[Bailey__Bear]

I have always viewed liminal spaces as comforting. Imagining myself there and the ability to just relax in the silence, no sound of cars driving by or people chattering. I could imagine meditation there, the ability to fully clear my mind and appreciate the emptiness around me.

[Braven-jm]

For me liminal spaces remind me of the dreams I have that feel like the place in between dreams and nightmares, like being trapped in a horror film but without a monster to chase you so you are left anticipating something to happen but nothing ever does and you are left just feeling trapped in limbo.
I am actually glad liminal spaces have become popular because now I can but a name to the feeling I get when I have those dreams.