Thread by @personunsure

STARING INTO THE MIDDLE DISTANCE

a twitter thread

when we're told how to live, it mostly comes packaged as high level directives

we hear things like: be kind. think of others before yourself. tell the truth

they're good. but they're so far away. they're cosmic

but those cosmic ideas need incarnation

"be kind" doesn't exist in a vacuum

it searches for a concretion

it yearns to become a smile. a word of encouragement. a warm cup of coffee

"think of others before yourself" becomes clean dishes. a made bed. reading the same book for the hundredth time to a toddler.

and it's usually straightforward, in a given moment, to figure out what these cosmic principles want to become

at the cosmic level, we mostly hold to these same directives

at the concrete level, we enact them similarly

the real work happens in the space between

this middle space, as i've come to call it, is where our lofty goals distill into actions

where high and mighty hopes become baby steps

where dreams become small choices

it's here where we truly express ourselves

where we determine the paths for our lives

it's where we decide where we live, what jobs we take, who we spend our time with

it's easy to turn our cosmic ideas into individual actions, but it's magical to turn them into true expressions

that middle space between. that's me. that's you. that's us

on bad days, i lose track of the middle space

all i have is the cosmic and some clean dishes

i have "be kind" and folded laundry

but i have no passion. no vision

i'm always trying to live in this middle space, where love is found

where a full expression of being kind takes form not as the simplest thing possible, but the best thing possible

where daily life blossoms from duty into purpose

it takes time and focus, but when i look into the middle distance, i find that purpose

i find hope

i find my family

i find myself