There are several spaces we inhabit in our lives.
Most of us are familiar with the concept of outer space, the arena of stars and galaxies, of space probes in search of the origins of life.
The space which has become the playground of the very rich with their expensive toys.
The concept of inner space is also widely understood, as that terrain where individuals work out their individuality, their true selves. Their identities. Their values and beliefs. Their understandings of good and evil, what should be supported and what should be opposed.
Inner space is thus defined by individuality. In a nation of 335 million people there are 335 million inner spaces.
These realities give rise to the concept of middle space. Middle space is that enormous expanse confined by the contours of outer space – which as we know from exploratory ventures are not that confining – on the one hand; and bounded within that expanse by the individual inner spaces of multitudes of others.
The exploration of middle space in necessitated by the inevitable conflicts that arise among the inner spaces of individuals. The need for shared understandings of how decisions are made, how power is shared. How middle space, the large emptiness between inner spaces, is populated and governed.
This visual concept can help us undertake the task we face in this period of intense polarization.
Of reaching out from our well–defined inner spaces to interact with and better understand those equally well-defined inner spaces of others.
Middle space exists as an emptiness out there to fill, or at least to venture out in.
Because what can occur as a result is seldom known at the outset. Whether outer space or inner space, what we find in our searches usually exceeds what we thought we were seeking when we began.
The profound reality of middle space is its immensity. There is room – for effort, for long reaches, for unlikely reaches – to achieve understanding
And from understanding – agreement. On something. Or several somethings. Never everything. Given the number and complexity of inner spaces, that is not surprising.
What I call for is a resurrection of our pioneer spirit. To explore this new world. In Tennyson ‘s immortal words, “to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.”
We have nothing to lose. But much to gain. We must all venture into the possibilities of middle space, to help create a new and lasting peaceful coexistence.
Col Owens is a retired legal aid attorney and law professor, author of Bending the Arc Toward Justice, longtime Democratic Party activist, and member of the Boards of Directors of Gateway Community and Technical College and the Kentucky Board of Elections.