My Favorite Liminal Space
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A blue lit room with a shower at the end, a bench, a shelf and a door to a closet like space.
Since Backrooms is out there, I thought I'd share this. I go into sensory deprivation for ninety minutes every other week or so.
Over the years, I've done it about 150 times. Last week I did my last annual double float, which is 3.5 hours (right after COVID it was five hours). It's my last annual, because I intend to do it every other month going forward.
This is room 4 in Float On in Southeast Portland Oregon. It helped me keep my job much longer than I would have otherwise. It's guided my greater decisions . It's allowed me to revisit memories I didn't know I had
The door to the right is like a closet with the floor covered with water with so much salt in it that I can float with my face above the water. It's warm enough that I quickly forget what is water and what is my skin and the warm air around it. It's dark and silent.
Just walking into the room, just getting the reminder email, removes everything from my head and the tension in my shoulders melts.
When I get in and turn off the light, visions start almost immediately. Today it was a massive eye with a dark green iris. Sometimes, once I see something, words come to me. They nearly never relate to the image. The last hundred or so floats, I've tried to remember at least three of these. When the float is done, I walk to my local and get a pint and a shot and write them down. I have no idea why I record them. Rereading them is very, very boring. I think it's just how I return.
Over the years, I've done it about 150 times. Last week I did my last annual double float, which is 3.5 hours (right after COVID it was five hours). It's my last annual, because I intend to do it every other month going forward.
This is room 4 in Float On in Southeast Portland Oregon. It helped me keep my job much longer than I would have otherwise. It's guided my greater decisions . It's allowed me to revisit memories I didn't know I had
The door to the right is like a closet with the floor covered with water with so much salt in it that I can float with my face above the water. It's warm enough that I quickly forget what is water and what is my skin and the warm air around it. It's dark and silent.
Just walking into the room, just getting the reminder email, removes everything from my head and the tension in my shoulders melts.
When I get in and turn off the light, visions start almost immediately. Today it was a massive eye with a dark green iris. Sometimes, once I see something, words come to me. They nearly never relate to the image. The last hundred or so floats, I've tried to remember at least three of these. When the float is done, I walk to my local and get a pint and a shot and write them down. I have no idea why I record them. Rereading them is very, very boring. I think it's just how I return.
I have had periods in my life where hallucinations come to me out of the blue during normal times, so floating is like turning on the TV.
Regardless, it's worth a try. If you come to Portland, the float is on me.
And I totally get that unread diary idea. It is more ritual than record for me.