What Happens when Places Outlive their Purpose?

Have you ever walked through an abandoned shopping mall? Hold up, let’s backup. I feel like I might have to explain what a mall is. A mall is a large retail complex that hosts a variety of stores, restaurants, and business. I say this partly jokingly because there aren’t too many malls left. Everything is turning into an open-air mall or outlet center and many who read this may not remember what a true shopping mall is. I grew up in them. My friends and I used to live at the mall. That’s where all the cool people hung out, right?

I digress. Allow me to get back to my point. So, let’s try it again. Have you ever walked through an abandoned mall? I’ve seen many in my day. I don’t want to confuse this question with one who is just seeing a slow day or a slow afternoon. I’m talking about one where most of the stores have closed, the escalators don’t move up or down, and if you yell loud enough, you may hear it echo. It’s a weird feeling especially when you remember how lively they used to be. Malls are known as gathering spaces for more than just shoppers and shopping, it’s usually filled with conversation, smiles, and good old fast food. There were many, many memories made there.

Despite how great malls are (or used to be), change is inevitable. Times change and so too do the way we live. Shopping habits and patterns have changed causing the decline in shopping malls resulting in not only empty spaces, but entire structures being torn down completely. Meanwhile, consumers like myself (and the millions of teens out there) are left waiting for what’s next. There is a well-known term in urban planning called adaptive reuse that encourages developers and communities to repurpose those old spaces. I’m sure you’ve noticed the plethora of pop-up lofts built in old warehouses. It’s not just repurposed to living quarters like lofts. They also become museums, restaurants, business offices, and community teaching spaces. So, instead of tearing down, reconstructing and rebuilding, we’ve found a more sustainable way to reuse sound structures.

Let’s focus on that for a moment. Buildings like old shopping malls don’t have to disappear and become something else to be viable and beneficial because its original intention wasn’t relevant any longer. I want to be honest; it doesn’t always work. I’ve seen malls close, renovate, and reopen and still not be able to reclaim its former glory. And they come with other problems. Renovation is expensive. Redevelopment in many occasions cause rezoning and redistricting issues to communities, not to mention the impacts to local concerns like traffic, parking, noise, and pollution. And depending on what kind of structure is created, some have to worry about the impacts of rising or lowering property values, right? All are significant things to consider. It’s a good thing I’m not a developer.

I don’t mean to fall deep down a hole trying to understand what it takes to be an urban planner or real estate developer. It brings me to the question that is most pressing to me: How do we assign value to things that no longer function in the same capacity or as they once did? Moreover, how do you evaluate things using the same standards we used so many years ago? Just from existing in the past, we’ve developed identities around the careers we’ve had, the relationships we’ve been involved in, and in our personal responsibilities and accomplishments. Over time, these types of roles become familiar to us and instinctually start to associate them to who we believe we are. So how then does one cope when circumstances change and those roles no longer fit?

Let’s look to our parents for that answer. Someone works a job for 30 or 40 years. That routine of working a 9 to 5, Monday through Friday, and vacationing 2 weeks a year becomes who they are and a part of their life’s mission. But most don’t intend on working until death; many want to retire. Retirement sounds and feels good for the first 2 weeks, but then reality sets in. They don’t have that structure to rely on anymore. That carrot they used to chase has been captured. Many go back to work to fill that void because they are measuring their lives by a standard that doesn’t really exist for them anymore. Some fall into depressive states. Sounds dismal, I know. But living a mindfully aware lifestyle invites a different recognition of post-work life. It is quick to demonstrate that we don’t need to view life as a loss of personal value. It opens the door to new interpretation that finds that the roles we’ve always played don’t impact the possibilities that still remain available to us.

As we look at those abandoned buildings, it’s natural to ask what happened? What let conditions rise the levels that created the end of life for this/these building(s)? Why isn’t it being used anymore? All reasonable questions, but one more to add: what do they all have in common? They keep us nearly focused and positioned in the past. But what if we transformed that attention placed on what is going on now and targeted what could happen next?

So, what does all this mean? Well, just as not every building needs to be torn down, not every chapter of our lives needs to be reinvented. And as we move forward within our lives, we have to leave some things behind. Creating a mindful approach internally can be instrumental in us recognizing when we are holding onto something that holds an outdated definition or antiquated identity.

Adaptive reuse isn’t necessarily meant to restore a place to what it used to be at the highlight of its career. Sometimes it’s just the opportunity to recognize what it has the potential to become without destroying the history that brought it there to prominence in the first place. It’s unfortunate that the collective group tend to think things lose its value when it can no longer serve its original and designated purpose. But again, consider that those who hold that opinion are measuring value against a purpose it was not and could not serve forever.

A Kind Rebirth Moment isn't only about recreation as the name may suggest; it's about return and redirection. And sometimes that redirection begins when we recognize that a change in purpose doesn't have to mean an end to meaning.

Stay Mindful…

Rebirth