In my Liminality and Contemporary Issues seminar, I tasked students with reflecting on the pandemic through the liminal lens. Here is a compilation of their many observations:
“When I could go back home, there were multiple limitations that everyone lived through; differing information, shift in economic standings, an uncertain period of history that took many to the edge of insanity.”
“In essence the pandemic forced me into liminality faster and harder than a bullet from a gun …still to this day I wake up confused as to where I am because it is not he four walls I was confined to during the pandemic.”
“When we experience the rough seas of involuntary liminality, we find how strong or weak we truly are, what lessons we have yet to learn, and what we already knew.”
“Whether we were sad and scared about our loved ones possibly coming down with the virus or having to be quarantined none of us knew what the future held or for how long. We were suspended in space for a period where no one knew what what true or fabricated, no one knew how long it would last, and no one knew what this meant for the future.”
“When restrictions and lockdowns began some people were able to transition completely online with very little hassle, while others were laid off or forced to continue working because their jobs were vital. One’s status affected everything from income to family relationships to personal mental health.”
“For a chunk of the pandemic, we had individuals in high places spreading false information – whether about the safety of the vaccine or the severity of the virus. Because of this, not only were we tossed into an uncertain, scary environment, but we did not know who to trust.”
“I remember at the beginning of the pandemic, I felt safe because I was young and because I didn’t live in a big city. However, as soon as the reality started shift, the collective panic was contagious.”
“Those with privilege or wealth faced less repercussions in the face of the tragic event…the liminality was felt unequally.”
“Rather than trying to working together and trying to keep everything calm, certain leaders let the chaos run rampant, making it impossible to navigate the state of liminality.”
“When COVID first became a threat to America, I remember being excited that my spring break might be lengthened. At the time, it seemed like only the elderly would be impacted and everyone was pretty sure things would return to normal relatively quickly. This excitement quickly turned to worry, and then to horror, as my school eliminated our return date altogether, and the death counts quickly rose. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was stuck in a liminal loop.”
“The time I spent reading Camus’ The Plague during the pandemic felt like a long-term stay in purgatory. I felt like my life was completely uprooted. Old landmarks were no longer there or had changed beyond recognition and I felt a tangible sense of disillusionment.”
“We woke up one day and life was halted … I had just become comfortable and content with how my life was playing out and overnight it was taken away from me.”
“I was in Chicago on vacation when the world shut down, and it was time to return home. The day before we left we had asked the bellhop if he would be there the next day to help us find a cab. He assured us he would be there, but the following morning he was thrust into an incredibly uncomfortable liminal space; he had been furloughed. He was immediately pushed over the threshold and had no way to earn money.”
“The pandemic was a time of alienation and separation for all of us. The state of liminality was a universal experience that thrust us out of our ordinary structures of life. It was a time of uncertainty and fear, and we are still dealing with the effects of it today.”
“During lockdown, I felt extremely lonely and isolated. I was lucky enough to be at hoe with my parents and brother, but we were all stuck inside of our house for months with very little exposure to the outside world. I tried my best to keep in touch with y friends through online modes of communication, but these were no substitutes for in-person interactions, and I still felt cut off from the world.”
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