PART 3

I believe that the body provides a reflection of the world and everything in it. We can study our bodies and understand any issue or phenomenon happening in society. If I can understand how my body operates, I can understand how our world operates. I find that really fucking cool.

I turned to my body today to learn about the middle. I asked my body, what can you tell me about being in the middle, being in process, and being in life?

Here’s what it said:

The middle is messy.

It’s all guts, blood, puss, and poop. (Wow. That might be the grossest sentence I’ve ever typed.)

Think of the middles of our bodies. They are filled with so much messy stuff. If we stripped away our skin, we would expose all kinds of craziness. None of it would be clean. All of it would be messy.

Most of us avoid our messy insides. We turn our heads during gory scenes. We’re grossed out when we see vomit. We quickly flush after we poop. We avoid anything that isn’t the outside. We hide, avoid, and ignore the inside.

When we’re in the middles of life, we’re in the mess. We’re in the conflicting thoughts and emotions. We’re in the what-ifs. We’re in the I dunnos. We’re in the tears, the pain, and the confusion. We’re in the risks, the chances, and the unknowns.

We’re in the guts of life, and we would rather turn our heads.

But here’s the deal. The middle is where life lives. Ask any body what it would do without the middle, and it would tell you that it would die.

The middle gives the body life. The middle gives the human life. The middle contains the processes that keep life living.

The middle contains the inside. The middle is the inside.

When we’re faced with a middle in life, we’re granted a unique opportunity to witness the inside. We’re given a profound moment to observe our inner workings and to bow to that which gives us life. We’re invited to strip away our superficial skin. We’re invited to witness what’s within.

Our middles are arguably the most messy and disgusting parts of our bodies. But they’re also where the magic happens. They are where breath lives and hearts beat. They are where the body comes to life.

When you are in the middle, you have an opportunity to awaken to life. You have an opportunity to embrace your mess and notice that it gives you life.

The middle is where life lives. The middle is where you live.

In love and liminality,

Annie Rose

Random Thoughts:

• The whole entire mess is part of a life-giving and sacred process.
• I have two friends with whom I regularly discuss bowl movements.
• Being in the middle sometimes feels like being submersed in a colon.
• When I’m in the middle and let go of control, I feel like I’m sitting on the most beautifully beating heart and being held by the source of life.