Into The Middle Of Things
In medias res is the Latin term for the narrative device of starting right in the middle of the story. It means, close-enough-to-literally, into the middle of things.
It also happens to be my preferred way of sharing stories, since it seems to the way things are. We're always in the middle of things.
I've had a hard time writing here recently for a lot of reasons, but, after the reset series, I want to check in to assure you that things are okay. Actually, we're mostly fantastic right now, all things told. (Thank you for all the wonderful winged wishes, healing thoughts, and kind words you've sent our way.)
A few highlights:
We've hired some new teammates.
We've been working some new solutions, services, and other juicy stuff in the background.
I'm intentionally slimming down some revenue streams and these choices are forcing us to work other options.
Leaky holes are getting sealed, worn shoes mended or thrown out, and hidden gems are being honed and surfaced.
While this sounds like a lot of hard work - and, in some senses, it is - the truth of the matter is that we're having more fun, doing more work that matters, and modeling our message. I have a hard time curbing my enthusiasm about the developments, even when those developments have come with some lumps attached to them. Sometimes it's hard to start when you know you won't be able to stop.
I need to be more accurate here: it's not that I've had a hard time writing, but rather, that I've had a harder time hitting publish. I'm sitting on several months worth of written content, not to mention the ideas that are in their pre-written form. (In case you didn't know it, I'm a visual, social thinker, which means there are scraps of diagrams and topics scattered across notecards and virtual folders. The actual writing comes last.)
You might be inclined to think that perhaps I need some new creative trick or system to get my words out. That's not really what's going on here. Again, it's not a lack of content.
The chief challenge is that we've got a pretty big red shift going on. In physics, we observe a red shift when an object is moving away from us, since the wavelengths get longer as the object moves away. It's the same phenomenon that changes the way sirens sound; they're higher pitched as they approach us and lower pitched as they move away from us.
What I mean in this context is that much of our published material is getting further and further away from our newer material. It's not yet far enough away that it's a completely separate voice and body of work, but in a few more months, it'd be impossible to breadcrumb the trail between the two without only adding to the red shift.
For the last few months, I've known that publishing would be a great way to avoid the harder work that needed to be done. To do the same thing and expect different results would be insane, so it was time to switch things up. When assessing "What matters now?," posting didn't compete with some of the other things on the plate.
Which, of course, only made the red shift worse. Other things are taken care of, so it's time to reallocate focus.
The only way ahead now is to do exactly what I'd advise you to do: even if you have to start in medias res, start. It'll be awkward, ungraceful, and perhaps a little rusty, but it'll be a start.
We're always in middle of things, after all.
(Isn't it odd how our own self-made expectations take a life of their own sometimes? A topic for another day, perhaps.)