Liminal

You must have come from them. I did too, once. I’d give anything to go back. I wouldn’t care if I was dull. I wouldn’t care if I was the same as everyone else. All I want is to be content, and to be content with them. That would have been enough. But I’ve started this, and now I’m paying the price for the individuality I thought I wanted. I will be here forever, atoning for a few moments of glory. 

Once you find a path to call your own, your feet will refuse to walk down any other. Once you see colour, you can never return to monochrome. Once you feel the wind on your face or the love of a friend, you can’t bear to go numb again. Oh, how I wish I could. How I wish I could let go of the love I feel.

So here I am, and now, here you are. Those of us here are lost. Not because we never had a home, but because we’ve had too many, and we could never choose between them. Our desires tear at us and pull us in a thousand different directions. You’ve slain the dragon and saved the damsel, but now what? You love her, but do you love her more than what was once your home? Do you love her so much you don’t care to return? Do you love her so much you’ll never set out again?

In this emptiness, we yearn for more, knowing that anything less would never satisfy us again. We are seduced by grand quests and thrilling adventures, but we are unwittingly drawn away from those we still love. We would break reality to take them with us, if only that’s what they wanted too.

Welcome to the Liminal. Welcome to this existence we share. It’s no home, but some of us have been here long enough that we can pretend it is. There is some comfort here; while we are lonely, we are not alone. We may not be the company you were wishing for, but we can still have fun from time to time. It doesn’t matter which “them” you came from. It doesn’t matter which “them” draws you in the most. The light, the dark, the wood, sky, or stone. The warm, the cold, the burning heat. The silent cities, the screaming seas, and countless more besides.  It doesn’t matter if every world imaginable calls to you, or if you’re only torn between a few. We’re all here in this space because we were cursed with the wonder of seeing something new. We’re all here because not now, nor never again, will any of us be satisfied.

Welcome to the Liminal. We know so much that our minds will never stop and our dreams will never die. We are blind: we have eyes, ears, and forsaken endeavours. We are mute: we have teeth, tongues, and our own cautionary tales. We are still, bound by legs, lungs, and everlasting love. We spend our lives here, searching for a home we know must be out there. We’ll never find it, and we’ll die together, looking for a resolution that was never promised. 

Welcome to the Liminal. Welcome to the waiting for your happily ever after. Welcome to the waiting till the end of all your days.