41 - Liminality
A fascinating concept that there is probably another word for, but is beautiful nonetheless:
liminal/ˈlɪmɪn(ə)l/ - adjective
relating to a transitional or initial stage of a process.
occupying a position at, or on both sides of, a boundary or threshold.
The first time I heard about this concept was reading an interview in Liminal Magazine for Anchuli Felicia King, a young playwright who I had just gone to see at the Melbourne Theatre Company. The play was called The Golden Shield and was the story of an Asian-Australian female lawyer bringing a case, on behalf of a Chinese dissident, against a tech company involved in building the Great Firewall.
That by itself is an incredibly interesting theme to me being an Asian-Australian myself. In addition, King is a Thai-Australian, and brought a stunning, authentic story to the stage with a really inventive delivery. But more than that, I encountered a fascinating character called 'The Translator' in the play that not only literally translates Mandarin to English for the audience, but translates conversation to subtext, exposing the miscommunications of language, jumping in and out of the narrative trying to sort out the different meanings of what people are trying to say.
He uses the example of the story of the three monks in Chinese - one monk brings it up the mountain, two monks share the load, but when there are three monks, no-one goes to fetch the water (as they think one of the others will do so). The parable has to do with shared responsibility, but there's not really the same kind of saying in English. Maybe "Too many cooks spoil the broth"? But it's not exactly the same meaning.
The character embodied a fantastic concept of liminality - being between two languages, two culture and two ways of communicating - and brilliantly displayed the tension that comes from it. It really spoke to me, being the son of immigrants, and straddling two distinct but equal cultures of my life.
I started seeing the word and concept of liminality in other places as well - surely an example of the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon, but still fascinating. Liminal spaces, liminal moments, liminal identities...
Liminal spaces
Spaces between spaces. Corridors, hallways, waiting rooms, verandahs, porches, train stations, bus stops, roads, paths, trails, tracks - all spaces that may not have meaning in and of themselves, but often serve as a conduit from one place to another. They're places where you bump into people, while away your time, become bored, daydream; it's fascinating to think about these spaces.
Liminal moments
A liminal moment is one where you're in transition - think about being on a bus, or a train. Waiting for a stop sign. Getting your mail. Walking from a meeting to another meeting. Taking a shower. Searching for your Uber. All liminal moments that we feel the need to fill in so many different ways. Games. Facebook. Podcasts. Anything to make it seem like those liminal moments have some meaning, even though their liminality is meaning enough.
Liminal identities
I've written about in Labels, but not as much in terms of what it means a Chinese-Australian. I cringe at the memory, but grappling with my identity in a Year 10 history classroom really tops it ("Am I Chinese? Am I Australian? But am I Chinese?" UGH I'm the worst). You're othered here, and you're othered back in your 'home country'. You occupy both sides of the boundary, never really fitting in.
Another kind of liminal identity - growing up in a private school full of people I couldn't identify with. The type of wealth and luxury was something incredibly alien to me but as a young kid, I didn't know any better. I remember one time asking my parents to buy a present for a friend of mine worth $90. Mate. I was in like Year 4. Who needs a $90 present in Year 4?!! That kind of culture was so different to my upbringing.
This also an extension of what we talked to last week - those teenage, or pre-adult years where you're both an adult and a non-adult, a chrysalis becoming a butterfly. You're ready to be an adult but you're not an adult yet, waiting for the social recognition or the rite of passage that allows you to ascend.
Have we lost a lot of those liminal moments? Or should we be infusing more spaces with liminality? Open areas, hallways, sitting on a bus, going up a lift. Being bored in those moments, those spaces - it's something that we don't really do. We have so many things to fill our time with.
When we get back to whatever passes as normality, think about those liminal spaces, moments and identities. What do you do with your liminal moments? How do you inhabit those liminal spaces? What kind of liminal identities are you in now?
How do you embody liminality?
Chat soon :)
✔️ Real Life Recommendations
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Liminal Magazine - interviews with Asian Australians. I'm trying to support more of this burgeoning scene - trying to watch more plays, consume more content from these creators in an attempt to help build up that scene, and be part of this more liminal identity.
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The Family Law - there's a tv series, but I read the book. After watching his show Torch the Place, I was fascinated about his upbringing as an Asian-Australian. It's a really great book to read - I might have to go watch the tv series as well!
🚌 Adventures on the Information Super-Highway
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Accented Cinema - a YouTube film analysis channel that speaks to a lot of Asian media. I especially enjoyed his pieces on Ip Man, but more recently about Kung Fu Heroines. It's eye opening to understand the history, culture and development of such talents!
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Why do Liminal Spaces feel like an altered reality? - "When it comes to design, we crave a rational explanation for the existence of a particular space and, when we can’t come up with one, we avoid it altogether."
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How Chinese consumers are disrupting luxury - an interesting article on an ascendant Chinese middle class. Nothing too new, but cool to hear about in a new context.
🌱 The Calathea Corner
Not too nice of a photo, but I wanted to show Feleafcia's set up!
Calatheas need to be in humid environments, and to do that, they need to have water. I've put Feleafcia near but not directly in front of a ducted heat outflow, so that there's a bit of heat going by it when we have it going. When I water Feleafcia, there's a bit that's left over down below, but the pot itself sits on top of some river pebbles. This means that the water can slowly evaporate (or at least, that's what it would do better in summer - I don't know if it still does it now!) and keep a more humid environment.
