In the Middle

by Nancy Casey

When somebody uses the phrase, “In the middle”, they could be talking about a lifespan, a seating arrangement, or a sandwich. Look around the world in front of you. Scour your memories and imagination. Ask yourself, “What’s in the middle?”  Write about that today.

Before you begin writing, take a few breaths and settle yourself into the task. Get your page set up by drawing a line across the top where you will write a title when you have finished. Set aside some space for illustration if you like. As you do this, think about “middles.”

Sometimes the middle is in space. Two objects exist somewhere, and between them is something else. The two objects could be fence posts, houseplants, or galaxies. They don’t have to be identical objects, either. A shoe that sits between a purse and a dog is in the middle. The thing you are looking for can be in the middle of a pile or the middle of the floor.

The middle can also exist in time. Lunch, for example is before dinner and after breakfast, so it’s in the middle. Any moment in time has a moment that comes before it and one that comes after, so it’s in the middle. You could pick a moment in time and ask yourself what that moment is in the middle of.

What tends to happen in the middle of the day? What about the middle of the night?

Situations can have middles, too. It’s not pleasant to be caught in the middle of somebody else’s conflict. We don’t like to be interrupted when we are in the middle of something. 

Write about a location, a time, or a situation that has a middle. What’s in the middle? Provide as much information as you would like: what it is, how it got there, whether or not it belongs there or will stay there. You can write about several different middles, or maybe you have so much to say about the first one that it will fill your page.

However your page fills up, look back over you work. Add illustration or decoration if you like. Do your ideas form any kind of a pattern? Do they seem to be about a bigger idea that you hadn’t really planned on writing about? If they do, maybe you can use that insight to think up a title. If they don’t, make up some kind of a title anyway and write it at the top of the page.

Put your initials or a signature on the page, too. And write the date on it. Here is just one example of the type of thing someone could write.

You can share your work by posting it as a comment below. You can type it in, or take a photo of it and upload the image.

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Nancy Casey has lived in Latah County for many years. You can find more of her work here. If you would like some help with your writing, contact Nancy or the Latah Recovery Center. In-person Write-for You classes have been suspended for now, but when Covid recedes, they will return.