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If you ever find yourself in a space that brings up a feeling of ‘not knowing what’s up but something’s definitely up’ you may have encountered a liminal space. Obsessed over by fans who chase the unsettling feel, liminal spaces have become somewhat of a mysterious phenomenon surfing around the internet.

According to Imgur user RobJustice, “The liminal space is the 'crossing over' space, a space where you have left something behind, yet you are not yet fully in something else. It's a transition space.”

And thanks to the r/LiminalSpace subreddit with 237k members, we now have some of the most captivating examples to rest (or stress) our eyes on. From bowling alleys and abandoned buildings to almost surreal window views and places that feel strangely familiar although you have never been there, it’s hard not to stare for more.

And let us know how you feel about these liminal spaces in the comments below!

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joe
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

No-one mentions how much better the traffic situation will be after the apocalypse, do they?

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To find out more about these mysterious spaces that have been capturing the internet's imagination, Bored Panda talked to Lillie Marshall, an English teacher and writer who runs Around the World "L" Travel and Life Blog. Lillie is also a self-confessed fan of liminal spaces and discussed the phenomenon in her articles that you can check out here and here.

Lillie said she has been fascinated by the concept of liminal spaces since she was little. “I loved thinking and writing about them. So much of our lives are spent in these in-between spaces, and yet we so often ignore them,” she said and added: “Once you can see the importance and beauty of liminal spaces, it makes it much easier to be in the moment and enjoy the journey as much as the destination.”

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Picture I Took A Few Years Ago In Poland

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When asked how she’d describe a liminal space, Lillie explained it has to do with a magical and transformative quality. “Liminality can exist in physical space, time, and states of being, and refers to that in-between moment where you're between two things.”

Moreover, “It is a sometimes uncomfortable—but extremely important—era of transformation and shifting. Often we get impatient with these transitional spaces, but they are KEY, and are beautiful and profound if you allow yourself to truly be in them and understand their magical gifts,” she concluded.

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Google Maps Said This Is Where I Can Find Taco Bell, And I Just Realized That The Last Car I Saw Was An Hour Ago...

Google Maps Said This Is Where I Can Find Taco Bell, And I Just Realized That The Last Car I Saw Was An Hour Ago...

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Bisexual Backflipping
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

One time Google Maps told my family our hotel was down River Road, it was a long-ass gravel trail that led to literally nowhere, and we ended up with a 6-inch nail in our tire. F****n Google Maps, man.

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Bored Panda also spoke to Rob Justice, a table-top role-playing game designer and software engineer living in Kansas City, Missouri who is a fan of the liminal aesthetic and has shared an illuminating post on the topic on Imgur.“

A few months ago I saw a picture on Twitter, it's actually the very first one in the imgur post you linked above, and just couldn't stop thinking about it,” he recounted. Rob said he hadn’t heard about liminality so he did a bit of reading. “A few days later I was looking through old pictures on my phone and realized I'd taken a few liminal space pictures myself over the years. Just places that felt unique or odd to me. It's always weird to realize you're a fan of something before you know what it is.”

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Stay On The Light. They Won't Be Able To Get You If You're On The Light

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Kira Okah
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Darn caption, just did a game quest that required me to do that, was creepy enough in the game!

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#11

It's Not Safe To Go Outside But Inside Feels Haunted

It's Not Safe To Go Outside But Inside Feels Haunted

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Samantha Lomb
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2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

naah Just feels like literally any Eastern European apartment block. I can smell the cigarettes and cats

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#12

The Oval Office Between Us Presidents

The Oval Office Between Us Presidents

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Apachebathmat
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Just the removal of trump will have vastly improved its aesthetic

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Aaron W
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I hope they swept it really good for Russian listening devices.

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Kira Okah
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Though not the Oval Office, a US Ambassador to the Soviet Union did once find a bug hidden in a gifted plaque of the US seal in his home that he'd had for several years. Got dubbed The Thing.

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Mumchkin
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The floor is beautiful, I never knew what it looked like. Hope they burned a bit of sage after the last and before the current entered the space. The room has to have some bad ju-ju on it.

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Louise Stange-Wahl
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I laughed so hard when my hubby found this cartoon, I almost threw my back out LOL. I know you will enjoy it too...and hope it is indeed true. As soon as we got the wonderful news that tRUMP was OUT, I thought about that right away...afraid they might have placed booby traps! More-Sage-...9d85bd.jpg More-Sage-60f21299d85bd.jpg

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Anna McHugh
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If you stand in the middle of the two Vs and shout 'DonaldTrump DonaldTrump DonaldTrump' three times, Michael Keaton appears and takes the presidency. And we all live happily ever after.

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Never Stop Learning
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Amazing wood floor but always covered with some horrible rug with symbols all over it. New president, new rug, new design. A few presidents have reused previous past presidential rugs but not the president they are replacing. It was on BP awhile ago, showed how each president changed decor, artwork, furniture, etc. Absolutely amazing how fast the change occurs, completed during inauguration ceremonies.

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Calypso poet
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I remember that! Some of them were surprisingly gaudy or boring. Biden's isn't great. With Jill having whimsy and Joe old fashioned I was expecting better. But maybe because they weren't provided the usual curtesy transition...

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Oliver Seitz
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Cleaned and disinfected after clown orange had to leave the circus...

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Leesa DeAndrea
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I hope they disinfected it thoroughly after the orange poop was gone.

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An Co
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Wow. That is an impressive photo. Of course they probably could just have taken it at that lunatic's place that built an exact duplicate of the White House.

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Easily Excitable Panda
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's beautiful in so many ways, and it reminds you how truly fragile democracy is.

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bryguy
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It usually takes a team of 90-100 people 5 hours to fully move out a president and move in the next. This is overseen by the White House Chief Usher.

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sofacushionfort
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I would totally vote for the candidate who promised to keep it this way

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Ronnie Beaton
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I have this mental image of a couple of cleaners with polishing cloths tied to their feet, gliding around the room to the tune of "The Skater's Waltz".

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DDmaybeandor
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I read it as, "us presidents" because that's what it says. So my fellow presidents, I'm kinda liking that we've got an oval office time share.

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Queen Mab
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I hope after Trumpkins left they did one of the rites where sage is burned and the site is cleansed of its nasty past.

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Courtney Harris
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I have a question....are the Presidents required to cover the wood floor? I don't think I'd want to. Maybe a few throw rugs, but not cover it all.

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Alex
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2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Reminds me of the shinning for some reason

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Ididn'tknowyoucouldaddspaces
Community Member
10 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I hate the fact that this was a completely politics free article and some people had to ruin it. I am not supporting Trump, but come on.

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Dorothy Cloud
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's a beautiful picture! I see no reason for the nasty remarks. So useless & uncalled for!

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Britta B
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I want to put in a ton cushions and snuggle in it. Or fill it with sand and create some desert oasis tea tent-thing

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Irene Petrocelli
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2 years ago

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Hey apachebathmat I suppose the China puppet we have now is better. You are a moron

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Maureen Matthew
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2 years ago

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Have you noticed that comment critical of the narrative of the progressive left gets hidden?

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Sharon Ingram
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2 years ago

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I hope y’all are enjoying the whole shittifying of America by Biden

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Tres D
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2 years ago

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I can't wait to see this look like this again! The senile creepy old pedophile needs to go!

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Rob believes that there’s “something strangely powerful to the human psyche about transitionary places. The feeling of being between two places is an uncanny feeling, whether it's literal or psychological.”

This feeling can occur in any place. “I recently took a family vacation and we spent several hours in airports, where I kept thinking about the concept of liminality; We're not home but we're not on our vacation yet.” Rob explained that just like most transitions, “it's stressful but there is something comforting knowing that it's temporary. I think that's where people find themselves drawn to liminal pictures. It's temporary places made permanent."

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Nigel Rodgers
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2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I can hear the wipers and other cars splashing past. And of course, there's a tragic jam. Edit: I only saw this auto correct 5 days later😂🤣

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The Entrance To The Infinity Pool. Once You Enter, There Is No Going Back

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When it comes to describing this phenomenon, Rob said that his favorite definition is that “a liminal space is a 'crossing over' or transition space. It's a place where you have left something behind yet you are not yet fully in something else. It's the space between other spaces.”

Turns out that, “liminal is from the Latin word limen, meaning 'a threshold' so a liminal space is often a boundary point of one space beginning and another space ending,” he concluded.

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Lemme Get Some Uhhhhhhh

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#17

Only A Faint Hum And My Footsteps Can Be Heard.

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Dhukath
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is the type of place where your instincts say no but you go anyway, then half way you hear footsteps, could be your echo or not! Do you go forward, backward or wait?

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#18

My Grandmother’s Basement

My Grandmother’s Basement

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#21

My Friend Was Tested For Covid, This Is The Room He Waited In

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#22

The Lower I Go, The Higher The Water Gets

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#23

Empty Aquarium Restaurant, Made Me Feel Sad And Empty For Some Reason

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#27

Feels Like I Shouldn't Turn Around. Just Keep Walking

Feels Like I Shouldn't Turn Around. Just Keep Walking

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#28

View From The Laundry Room Looks Fake

View From The Laundry Room Looks Fake

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#30

The Exam Will Take Place Down The Hall And To The Left, Good Luck

The Exam Will Take Place Down The Hall And To The Left, Good Luck

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#32

Driving To The Airport

Driving To The Airport

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Green Machine
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Maybe I'm the only one, but I love fog and how it seems to transform places by changing nothing but the perspective.

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#34

Found An Artist Doing Some Pure Liminal

Found An Artist Doing Some Pure Liminal

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#36

An Old Pic I Forgot I Had On My Phone

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#37

A Nice Place To Make A Best Friend That You'll Never See Again

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Note: this post originally had 56 images. It’s been shortened to the top 40 images based on user votes.