Maury County Living March/April 2022

By Ross Jaynes

PHOTOS BY ROSS JAYNES VISUAL MEDIA CO.

It's the waiting in the wings before you go on stage, the moments sitting in the doctor's office or walking through a hallway. That weird, inbetween time. It's some sort of quasi-suspense, a feeling that we know something is about to happen, but what?

Liminality (from the Latin word līmen meaning a threshold) is the quality of ambiguity or disorientation that occurs in the middle stage of a rite of passage when participants no longer hold their pre-ritual status but have not yet begun the transition to the status they will hold when the ritual is complete. For example, after graduation, many students find themselves in a state of liminality before they are fully established in the workplace. Everyone has felt that feeling before; it's something you wish to forget because it's weird or uncomfortable.

In other words, it can also be a time and/or place you don't think about or even stay in much. They are transitionary, transient, or in some cases, even completely forgotten. They are just left behind, sometimes as a time capsule, others by situation or circumstance. The spatial dimension of liminality can include specific places, larger zones or areas, or entire countries. Liminal places can range from borders and frontiers to no man's lands and disputed territories, to crossroads to temporary spaces like hotels and schools, which people pass through but do not live in. They are ready to change, and this project captures them before their next transformation.

Columbia and Maury County are growing faster than ever. Nearly two and a half billion dollars of capital investment has been pumped into the community. Our population has increased by more than 20% in just a few short years. Columbia and Maury County is one of the most popular places to move to in all the United States of America. This growth requires change, not just for us, but for our environment and community.

Nelson House Hotel

Shady Brook Cinema

Woodland Park

LIMINALITY: BETWEEN ONE STAGE AND THE NEXT hopes to capture these buildings and places before they are gone like they were, are now, forever. Sometimes these buildings need to be transformed due to age and the condition they currently reside in. Other times, their purpose needs to be changed to fit the current time. Some of these could have some sort of personal connection. Maybe you grew up in one of these spaces, or perhaps you have quite a few memories inside them. Hopefully, capturing the last moments before they transmute into whatever is next for their journey helps retain some piece of their memory for people to come. Liminal space is where all transformation occurs if we learn to wait and let it form us.

Shady Brook Cinema

McDowell Elementary School

LIMINALITY

WHERE WE ARE BETWIXT AND BETWEEN THE FAMILIAR AND THE COMPLETELY UNKNOWN. THERE ALONE IS OUR OLD WORLD LEFT BEHIND, WHILE WE ARE NOT YET SURE OF THE NEW EXISTENCE. THAT'S A GOOD SPACE WHERE GENUINE NEWNESS CAN BEGIN. GET THERE OFTEN AND STAY AS LONG AS YOU CAN BY WHATEVER MEANS POSSIBLE ... THIS IS THE SACRED SPACE WHERE THE OLD WORLD IS ABLE TO FALL APART, AND A BIGGER WORLD IS REVEALED. IF WE DON'T ENCOUNTER LIMINAL SPACE IN OUR LIVES, WE START IDEALIZING NORMALCY.

— RICHARD ROHR, AUTHOR AND FRANCISCAN FRIAR

McDowell Elementary School

ROSS JAYNES is a lifelong resident of Columbia and the founder of Visual Media Co. He is acknowledged as a successful and award-winning multimedia producer, specializing in marketing, cinematography, videography, photography, graphic design, and other visual media. Jaynes also loves to serve the community and has been associated with various nonprofit organizations serving thousands of hours volunteering.