Trimming Out the Middles

           Anyone farming here in Middle Tennessee will tell you we had no Spring. We had one of the coldest winters on record, and are now entering one of our hottest summers ever, but that breezy period in between where we once were granted the gift of transitioning was scarcely a blip on the radar…

            By the same token, it seems as with the weather, so with our worldly climate (i.e. our political state of affairs). In observing the rest of the world (ie. the world beyond my garden rows) seems most everyone in my circles these days fall into one of two categories. I’ve got a few acquaintances who are richer than rich, having invented something wonderful, mastered the art of business or have flexed their entrepreneurial muscles so masterfully that they now enjoy luxury houses, cars, boats, pools and debt-free living, and while I don’t see these folks as often as I see my farming buddies, I applaud their success and respect their right to live their lives so fully—surrounded by whatever they wish to spend their hard earned dollars on. They are what many folks in this great country of ours aspire towards and I do not begrudge them this…to the contrary, they serve as great reminders for those who might likewise seek such lifestyles.

            On the other end of the spectrum (speaking of those I DO interact with more regularly as a day-to-day proposition), seems everywhere I turn, these folks are barely making ends meet (or worse…they are so far behind the 8-ball they’re not sure if they’ll ever catch up). These are the Ramsey-ites, who are struggling to pay of credit cards, wondering if their insurance will hold out, looking for second jobs (if they’re lucky enough to have a first) hoping to pull out of a dive like a single engine plane trying to avoid crashing into a hay field…

            What’s missing between these two?  A solid middle class. Like our lack of springtime around these parts, seems the world is ever dividing into two camps—racing for the extremes. In financial terms, there are the haves and the have-nots; the “got it going on” and the “not so much happening” …In short, and again like our seasons, seems they run either way hot or way cold…Anymore there’s very little spring…very little grey zone…very little in between.

            So what’s to credit for this dichotomy that seems to be ever expanding?

            From my life experiences, I blame (or credit) the media, and more specifically, 24/7 news cycles. As one who came from this world, it’s a very obvious pattern to follow when you break it down. Take for instance a producer (be it TV or radio) whose job it is to take a topic, nail it down, then go in search of a point and a counter point to argue both sides of the equation. Add to that the very finite amount of time said producer has to fill with such a task (i.e. 60 seconds or less) and, well, the quickest way to snag some points is to reach for the extremes. Find a vastly conservative stance and pit it against the most liberal of liberals…It makes for great broadcast fireworks, but seldom does it represent where the majority of us live—somewhere in the middle…somewhere in the grey zone. Not fanatical either way, most are just trying to understand the arguments in the limited amount of time we have to consume news and figure out some way to contribute in whatever small way we might to the conversation. Problem is, no one goes for the grey zone when producing a segment. Grey is equated with boring. Boring gets you no ratings. So you go for the hot stuff. The vibrant “out there” arguments…in short, the extremes. And because you present extremes, the rest of us sitting at home taking it in, start to question our own passion for a topic, or else we unplug entirely thinking “Who has the time? I’ve got a garden to grow, a house to run, kids to feed…I can’t afford to spend my emotional capital getting bent out of shape over a political topic that I’ll have precious little say in by the end of the day anyway...” (And then politicians and media types marvel at why so few of us make the effort to get out and vote.)

            This is not a rant about voting. It’s not a rant at all. It’s one girl’s observation of extremes that are creeping into everything from our weather to our news to our worldly political environment which cannot help but have a lot of us feeling disconnected to the world. The good news is extremes DO grab our attention. Be it weather or politics, polar opposites generate talk. It’s why producers go for the extremes…their job is to keep the talk going.

            But most of us I dare say, would prefer not live our lives on the fringes of extremes. We’d like to live passionately, yes, but not controversially. Most people I know (both rich and poor) want to live and let live…be appreciated for their perspective on things, but not be badgered into becoming fanatic one way or the other.

            So as I observe what to me at least, appears to be an evolution toward extremes, I ask myself, where do I fit in? Who out there represents me? As a journalist, I was trained to see both sides…to seek out both sides…As a writer, now home focusing on sustainable, peaceful living, I have found but one way to approach this dilemma and that is to redirect my prior search from “out there” to “in here” if I hope to stay sane.

            While it is not my goal to side with any extreme (any more than I’d want to live my entire year in a polar blast or my entire year in this ungodly heat), my goal (and I dare say most of our goals) is balance…an ability to appreciate both ends and hopefully wind up somewhere peacefully in between.

            For me, that only happens when I’m not in the midst of it. In the same way that I reserve my gardening time for early morning hours (before the scorching heat, so as to max my energy), I now make conscious decisions to stay out of the heat of arguments, not because I don’t have opinions…but because I now weigh whether having those opinions approved of by either extreme is worth the air it takes to voice them.

             I can’t help but go back to scripture when the world as I view it (at least through my jaded tv) makes no sense (which is more and more these days). When Jesus said “The meek shall inherit the earth,” what MUST he have been thinking? “Who ME? Home gardening? I think not. There is nothing powerful about this kind of living by the world’s definition.” Personally, I’ve never had less political sway in my entire career, but I can speak to the feeling of empowerment having pulled away from the worldly arguments.

            What I do have is a sense of rekindled energy that is mine and mine alone to place where I would have it go. I can put it toward those people, events and causes that I can personally see/feel/experience as good and worthy by my own perspective. Or I can put it toward something so seemingly insignificant as a well-weeded garden row, but the energy preserved from NOT having exhausted my fuel debating (or just digesting) the extremes is worth the world to me. In fact, it DOES feel like an inherited gift. After all, time may make you money, but money will never make you time. One can never buy back a day once spent, therefore it seems it would behoove us all to spend a little more thought in deciding just where the energy of that day will be directed before we ever let it go in the first place.

            Then again, what do I know?

(Guess it depends on your definition of power.)