STEEPED BY SAMIA #32 // IN THE LIMINAL Vol. 0 | 07.26.24
Down, down, down, The Liminal rabbit hole. Where will it take us? 🌀
I love the interview format, whether it’s a podcast, magazine, or YouTube series. There’s magic that happens when two people share stories with each other and explore questions filled with curiosity. And there’s always so much more that happens that we don’t get to see in the final version. I miss it. I miss interviewing people, and doing it in my own way, on my own blog.
If you were around in 2019 – 2020 (I’m so touched that you’re still reading my blog!), Dreams In-Progress was such a fun way for me to explore my curiosities and get my feet wet with the interview format. I interviewed Gen Zillennials to find out how they were getting from Point A to Point B in life. I got to speak with friends, my best friend-cousin, former classmates, and people I admire. It was quite a hit for my budding blog. Beyond that, it contributed to my love for the interview format.
So, yeah, I miss the interview format.
I love coming up with questions tailored to a person and being surprised by what comes up as we chat. Plus, uncovering truths and dimensions of the human condition.
From Samia’s Post-Grad Blog, to Steeped by Samia. From Dreams In-Progress, to In The Liminal. In my fifth year of blogging, I’m back with a new interview series. And it feels so good!
What’s In The Liminal Interview Series about? Before we get into that,
I. Let’s chat about Liminal Spaces and my life-long experiences with them.
Liminal Space (def.): “Times of transition, specifically the time when it is realized that the way things were are over, but the way things will be are not yet clear.”
I want you to find a log to sit on around our campfire. It’s a mirage, the fire is not real. And the air is neither cool, nor warm. It’s almost like you’re in a dream, your eyes are a little sleepy. But that’s the liminal space. Neither here, nor there —
A part of me has always felt that perhaps reality is not quite reality, and our dreams & imaginations have a strong presence in our lives, too. They all flow into each other, our interior and exterior worlds, and to live is to reconcile between them.
I can’t remember when I first heard the phrase “liminal space”, but it felt familiar. It was somewhere I had been in my mind before or the feeling of my life for long stretches of time. I’ve always had a strong imagination. I’ve always been lost in thought, in some seasons of life more than other.
This sentiment reminded of a college application essay I wrote, back in 2015. I’ll copy+paste an excerpt here:
“I power off my phone, press my hand to the door until I hear the brass lock click into place, and settle onto the lavender flowers that adorn the comforter of my bed. An eraser, pencil, pen, and purple notebook are cradled by the worn mattress — a product of being jumped on a bit too much years before.The rhythmic tick, tick, tick of the wall clock and the scratch of pen against paper are my only music. I unlock the gates of the imagination kingdom in my mind, turn to a crisp page, and write …
Characters tumble out of me, somersaulting into a new story. I feel their pulse on the paper — words form their skeletons and ink surges through their veins. These characters that once traversed my mind will now dwell in books that others will read and enjoy around the world. My imagination kingdom: a vast home where the gates are always open for me — and now for you — to stroll right in.”
And liminality has always stayed with me, like a firefly on my shoulder.
Even the sudden feeling of déjà vu, or encountering media or moments IRL that feel, well, tilted —
It’s Coraline crawling through a space in the wall to get to a false utopia-like parallel world, or Alice falling through the rabbit hole looking at photographs and jars of marmalade as she falls, or Yugi Muto & friends stuck in the never-ending Mind Labyrinth with staircases jutting out in gravity-defying ways.
These images, and more, have always stuck with me.
Liminality is the past five years — my first year out of college breathing the new air of an uncharted path, plus the following years of the pandemic trying to make storytelling a viable career path for myself and being present for my dad’s recovery with AML Leukemia & his bone marrow transplant (he’s doing great btw).
It’s waiting for life to start, but life is already, very much, happening to you.
Liminality (def.): “A quality of being in between two places or stages, on the verge of transitioning to something new.”
II. So, what is In The Liminal: An Interview Series of Steeped by Samia?
I interview people to find out about their liminal moments in life. I’ll ask questions like, What happened during that time? What does liminality look like and feel like for you? … Are you still there? I want to share these ephemeral but deeply meaningful stories with you. And along the way, I hope you feel a little less alone, as you wade through the heavy days and take steps toward where you want to be.
I’m super excited to chat with people I’m curious to connect with further about liminality and gain new insights on what it all means.
Here’s a list of liminal things and situations that come to mind (skim through it!): the summer after finishing school, getting laid off (or quitting) and finding your next thing, the death of a family member and grief, taking time off from work (ie for mental health), taking time off from school, being on a train or plane, navigating sickness or recovery (yourself or a loved one), the pandemic, in the waiting room (ie doctor’s office, DMV etc.), visiting a place that was once formative or important (ie college campus), the list goes on.
Liminality can get so much more specific & murky than this.
Some of these things are very much real — to some they may feel liminal, to others they may not. You might not even experience it or register it as such. We’re constantly finding ourselves in blips of liminality throughout our lives; whether it’s out of our control or a lens that’s washed over your seemingly normal life. We live such complicated lives in such complicated times.
The power of liminality is that there is no definitive conclusion of what it is or isn’t, and we’re constantly going through micro- & macro- transitions, regardless of whether we’ve journaled every detail of it.
Very excited to bring this series to you and to see where it goes. ✨ — S.A.
July 2025 Edit: Evidently, I have not gotten around to this interview series these past few months but it’s definitely on my mind!
🔗 Steep On This, Liminal Edition:
- A book: The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon
- A movie: Inception (2010)
- A TV show: Hotel Del Luna (2019)
- A podcast: Hidden Brain by Shankar Vedantam
- A newsletter: Liminal Space by Sarah Wood González
- A thing: The Bon Sequitur Tarot Deck by Zephyr Pfotenhauer
- A tea: Sleeptime Tea by Celestial Seasonings
💫 Catch Up on Liminal-ish Blog Posts:
- A preoccupation with the strangeness of time
- A hospital is not an art museum, but it can be
- Read this when you feel like: You’re not “doing enough”
- Will I always be in a liminal space?
- Editorializing my life: Notes from a constant ruminator
- On “Resting Anxious Face”
💌 About This Blog:
Steeped by Samia is a space where I can simmer on thoughts & curiosities about life, liminal spaces, digital culture, & more. Far too often, my writing ideas fizzle out in energy; I never get to see them to their full potential. While building my rhythm with writing, I want to share these stories with you.
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