I wonder if this liminal zone can be used to describe time. A philosopher friend says time is the distance between then and now. I'd love your thoughts.
We live in time and space and for most of us (!) they are inseparable; therefore when we are in a liminal zone, obviously we are ‘spending time’ there. When we distance ourselves spatially from our regular activities we are also ‘taking time out’ from them; that’s obviously what ‘temporarily' means.
The ‘two worlds’ between which the liminal zone lies are not only different ‘places’ but different ‘times’, inhabited by different versions of us – in other words what we were (past) and what we are (present) or what we will be or hope to be (future).
In that sense, ‘time is the distance between then and now’ – or between now and the future – is a good way to conceptualise it.
‘Travelling’ between those worlds is personal development (or professional development, too, I suppose).
Anyway, those are my thoughts, in a rough, generalised sort of way.
The cosmologists and physicists are still arguing about theories of time and space so, quite literally, who knows?
Some people believe the whole span of life we experience in our present reality – our existence in time and space – is a liminal zone between what we once were in the timeless universe and what we will be again (physically or not).
It always reminds me of that song lyric:
'If you believe in forever, life is just a one-night stand'. 😊
Janette
Terrific article. Thank you.
I wonder if this liminal zone can be used to describe time. A philosopher friend says time is the distance between then and now. I'd love your thoughts.
Thanks, Cheryl.
And that's a good question.
We live in time and space and for most of us (!) they are inseparable; therefore when we are in a liminal zone, obviously we are ‘spending time’ there. When we distance ourselves spatially from our regular activities we are also ‘taking time out’ from them; that’s obviously what ‘temporarily' means.
The ‘two worlds’ between which the liminal zone lies are not only different ‘places’ but different ‘times’, inhabited by different versions of us – in other words what we were (past) and what we are (present) or what we will be or hope to be (future).
In that sense, ‘time is the distance between then and now’ – or between now and the future – is a good way to conceptualise it.
‘Travelling’ between those worlds is personal development (or professional development, too, I suppose).
Anyway, those are my thoughts, in a rough, generalised sort of way.
The cosmologists and physicists are still arguing about theories of time and space so, quite literally, who knows?
Some people believe the whole span of life we experience in our present reality – our existence in time and space – is a liminal zone between what we once were in the timeless universe and what we will be again (physically or not).
It always reminds me of that song lyric:
'If you believe in forever, life is just a one-night stand'. 😊