the middle

“The middle of every successful project looks like a disaster.” Rosabeth Moss Kanter

I read that quote this week and laughed and loved it. Here are the reasons why.

When I started talking with my therapist, he mentioned that this is the time of my life to get comfortable in the middle. 

For a while, I named this blog “The Middle,” and my YouTube channel is even nicknamed “The Middle,” confusing my husband.

But I’m at the time in my life when I’m not starting new things—school, work, relationship, kids, buying a house, any of that. Thus, I’m in the middle, and I’m learning to be in that space—physically, mentally, emotionally.

I do, however, start creative projects all the time. And I can vouch for certain that they look like a disaster until they’re done.

I guess I like the quote because it gives me hope and makes me feel like I’m not alone. Like when I’m at that slog in the middle of a book—past the first initial excitement from the spark of an idea but before the slide into finishing—and feel like it’s nothing like what I expected it to look like, that it’s exactly as it’s supposed to be.

That part of the creative process is making a mess.

That things don’t have to be perfect to be a success.