Are you a middling sort of person? Truth be told, most of us are. We avoid extremes, occasionally get a little crazy, but the majority of the time we go about our lives in fairly conventional and dependable ways.
This is not to be confused with blah. Moderation does not mean a lack of passion or commitment. It also doesn’t mean that we are too fearful to stand out.
However, the societal trend has been toward extremes. Extreme sports, the manufactured crises and dramas of “reality shows”, and the normalizing of outrageous behavior by some celebrities and politicians are examples of this tendency. As we spend more and more time on social media platforms, with their endless content, it is the extreme that gets our attention.
This week I’ve been introduced to a person I had not heard of before. His name is Milo Yiannopoulos, a now disgraced alt-right blogger and provocateur. His purposely non-politically correct rants and pronouncements have earned him a following among those who enjoy the illicit pleasure of being offensive to women, minorities, and “snowflake” liberals.
At the same time I am disheartened by the equally strident diatribes aimed at the new administration by some elements of the left. Like the old Stealers Wheel song says,
Clowns to the left of me
Jokers to the right, here I am,
Stuck in the middle with you.
So, how do we honor the middle way and still feel that we are engaged and making a difference? For the Buddha the middle way is the path of poise and balance that avoids the extremes of life denying asceticism on the one side and heedless indulgence on the other.
Jesus, the master of paradox and hyperbole, spoke of resting in a center of peace and capability where we could be “wise as serpents and innocent as doves.”
I’ve always liked the coinherence of these two approaches to life. It seems right to me to be openly trusting and available to others, and at the same time savvy and no one’s fool.
Yes, I want to stand for what I believe to be right. I want to follow the guidance, not of my ego, but of a higher awareness. Doing so I ask for kind, inclusive, but also strong and firm ways to make my voice heard.
I’m in the middle but definitely not stuck. How about you?