The middle path makes me wary. It can be frightening, mistaken for a place of safety and moderation. I am not entirely comfortable here, never having been attracted to moderation of any kind. I have courted an intensity of extremes where I know what I am facing and where I chose to stand. But in the middle of my life, I am coming to see the middle path as a walk with wisdom where conversations of complexity can be found, that the middle path is the path of movement. This interests me. Life is not so predictable. I am forced to listen more carefully. In the right and left worlds, the stories are largely set; there is much to defend at the expense of the other. We become missionaries for a position, yes, exactly, no doubt about it, practitioners of the missionary position. Variety is lost. Creativity is lost in our inability to make love with the world.
Terry Tempest Williams, Leap
