"Inner crisis occurs because we are (un)aware of our potential, and frozen by the vastness of ability within ourselves."
The Alchemy of Middling Part 2
This is part two of a two part series on the middling place. If you missed the first part please join us here.
Last we spoke we discussed the idea of middling as a place where we have arrived to prepare for our next steps towards another goal or phase in life. It’s a transition space for higher expansion. But first we must discuss the one big thing that limits our ability to get to our highest expansive self and how it keeps a bit of us stuck in the middling place perpetually.
It’s you, not them
Middling can grow stale real quick if we have completed resting and gathering. When we don’t move on to our next adventure the real form of boredom steps in that fear disguises as a need for fun. <Enter screen time from stage left>
In my observations of middling time in myself and others I have learned this: the distractions of our technological age disconnect us from our souls need to continue to explore this wide, wild wonderful life. We grow complacent in our need for entertainment, and forget that we were built for challenge and survival.
We become impeded by our need to connect with our dopamine hit more than our physical reality. The simulacra of connection we receive from all the screens (insert your favorite version) replaces the desire to accomplish because it’s an hamster wheel to knowwhere. (Knowwhere: a place where your knowing is lost in a loop due to disconnect with your soul pathway; a repetition of one simple knowing in virtual reality).
Knowing requires all parts of us—body, mind, and soul. Challenges found within everyday life are intended for personal growth which in turn builds emotional maturity and eventually spiritual depth. We know this, but we are humans that are easily distracted by shining things and so we get stuck.
I’m not here to tell you to throw away your smart phone. I’m simply pointing to the one factor that is immediately within your control. The middling place is freedom and a trap. Focus will be required to transcend the narrative of needing to do, to be, to accomplish, to fit in. Our devices are created to steal our attention from the world that is right in front of us. The middling place asks us to be willing not complacent.
“…and if you’re lost enough to find yourself…” -Robert Frost “Directive”
The Alchemy of Middling
When we harness the middling place as an opportunity, we welcome in a new layer of soul song we’ve not heard before. A song that can create depth and joy inside living. It also offers the rare chance to remake all or part of ourselves.
Arriving at the middling place knowing it’s time for a new shift in life allows you a momentum of change because you are present for it’s welcoming. The universe is holding its breath patiently awaiting your decision. Power of thought is potent in the middling place because the fertile soil is limitless by nature.
This change of self can create an inner crisis. Belonging strictly to the middling place, inner crisis occurs because we are (un)aware of our potential, and frozen by the vastness of ability within ourselves. To alchemize this time take stock of strengths and weaknesses. Give yourself what is needed to be creative and explore.
The flux of external pressure is more acute on the internal self in the middling space. Creating lasting change while in the middling place leaves us vulnerable inside our resurrection. We cannot help but be affected by the smallest external stimulus. Giving ourselves permission to revise without interruption is crucial to the desired self expansion.
Take the time you need. Be gentle. Make no apologies.
Simplify to quantify
The middling place calls for action—but it’s not the kind that’s complicated and exhausting. The alchemy of the middling place suggests a return to simpler times. To look within while acquiescing our attachments to the finer things for a while.
The middling place asks us to gather close what is of value to the spirit of who we are. Learn to let the unspoken retort to a snide comment gather upon our lips and then die before being spoken. Condescension is no longer required. Neither is consumption.
We are starving ourselves in our abundance of needless things. The bleak sensation felt after a long day of work followed by hours of soulless entertainment is a call to be with our thoughts. To recover our dreams we need to be present in the space we occupy without validation or selfie required.
The middling place allows us to arrive at the next adventure ready and willing. How could we not take advantage of the opportunity given?
Our world is in a middling place. This is personal for all of us, regardless if we are physically in the middling place ourselves. One tiny step of self-improvement is a domino effect inside the space of middling.
Conclusion, and an offer to gain a new friend
The middling ground is ever present, aware. A blank slate ready to come alive. Whenever you arrive, or if you are already here, take a look around and remember your time in the middling place is meant to be temporary. Rest if needed. Gather what is required. Begin again lighter than when you arrived.
If you are walking inside the middling place you are in good company. It can be a lonely passage but one that is worthy of our devotion. If you need to chat and share your experience I’m here for your words. Simply reply to this message and I will respond with a friendly hello and hopefully some helpful words. (I did tell you I loved pen pals, right?)
I’ve been occupying the middling place for nearly a year now. I’ve felt the ups and downs of starts and stops. Mid-life and middling together are no joke. I’ve taken a reflective approach to this experience and it’s left me a better human. It’s also required some tough choices. In the coming weeks I will be breaking down how that looks in the real world, among other topics. I hope you will join me.
And if you feel called to support your friendly Creative Mystic, please feel free to share this letter with others. It would mean the world to me that my words reach where they are needed; with you as the facilitator is a gift of joy to my heart.
Until next time,
xo
Lenaleah 💕