Ancient, new word: Liminal

"And so, I offer you another word. My word. Ancient, yet carrying a unique weight. Liminal.

This word evokes the threshold of the perceptible, an in-between space filled with waiting and uncertainty. On the subreddit r/LiminalSpace, which grew from 500 members in 2020 to over 867,000 today, thousands share images of empty corridors and deserted parking lots. These spaces, usually passed by without a second thought, become powerful metaphors when placed at the center: they remind us of how fast we move, often forgetting to stop and look. They invite us to pay attention to the subordinate. These spaces then transform into moments of contemplation, and to contemplate is to relearn how to give weight to the world.

After years of instability—pandemics, social fractures, political crises—we are all, in one way or another, in an in-between space. A place where, despite uncertainty, something can emerge.

For to be in the liminal is not to be lost. It is to inhabit a threshold: the place where everything can transform."

– Marie Dollé

Full post and other words of the year: https://maried.substack.com/p/the-words-of-the-year