The Messy Middle Is Holy Territory

It’s easy to end up here...

Not at the beginning (where my idea is still full of curiosity and possibility).

AND definitely not at the end, where I can finally look back to reflect and make sense of everything... the good, bad, and in-between.

I’m still here, in the fricking, messy middle. Again.

What an uncomfortable, uncertain, liminal place...

This is the part where we’re not who we were, but we’re ALSO, not yet who we’re still becoming, either...

You know, that awkward place where we sometimes struggle to show up, half-formed, incomplete, in-progress, while we’re still figuring things out (as we go).

For a long time, I thought being in the middle meant I was... behind... or broken. Or still uninformed and too green to share what I was learning or creating.

I felt like I needed to wait until I had it all together before I could finally, feel confident enough be seen in my expertise.

Before I “deserved” to take up space.

But here's what I'm learning: The middle is where all of the real work lives.

Where we meet ourself in real time.

Where we discover what we’re made of, taking that first, courageous, creative step (even before we know the exact way).

Somehow, we learn, the messy middle is THE pivot point of our paths/projects/process.

It’s a portal for our projects.

And a required step for the process of BECOMING...

The moment JUST before things start to shift into place... where the old stories finally fall away and the new ones can finally start to take root...

Lately, I've been living here, in the thick of my own becoming...

Working from the dark, deep uncertainty of “what if..”.

Designing from the liminal space between what was and what will be...

Yes, it’s (SUPER) uncomfortable, but I find that it’s also... honest?

And for me, it’s where real transformation happens, if I can just... let it.

I'm slowly, surely learning to trust that creative clarity doesn’t happen before we take creative action. BUT it does show up WITH our commitment to creative action...

If you're in your own messy middle right now,. THIS is exactly where your work will take root.

We don’t have to wait until we’re “ready” or “finished” to be seen.

Maybe our awkward, middle places and spaces... ALL the uncertain, unfinished, in-progress spaces... are exactly where we’re supposed to show up the MOST (maybe, it’s exactly when & where showing up will have the the most impact on our creative ideas, projects, process, and selves/identities).

I would love to hear from you and see you and more from inside your messy middle! Please share your incomplete ideas and in-process projects with me if you have a minute.

#wildbecoming
#showyourmess
#showmeyourmessymiddle