It is the DASH,

 for which we are tasked,

to enrich and hold dear,

 while it lasts.

        ……..(D.P. Ryersons)

Because the “In Medias Res” opening to the story takes place in the “middle of things”, it often follows with a trip back to the story’s beginning, where the writer explains how the characters got to their current situation.  This is one way the author slides the story back and forth along the dash between the start and the end, to reflect the story’s purpose.

When the writer starts the story in the middle, the audience will need to learn who the characters are, what drives them and why they are there, in the “In Medias Res”. Flashbacks and changes in point of view are two ways that help the writer do that. By providing flashbacks and changes in point of view to make sense of the storyline’s dash, the writer deepens the reader’s emotional connection, understanding and appreciation of the meaning and overall purpose of the story.

Similarly, in our real lives, it is the time along our own dash between the beginning and the finish that matters, where flashbacks are memories and changes in point of view become our changing perspectives of the many situations and people we encounter, as we continuously face adversity, help others to do the same and where we learn to forgive, and inspire love, joy, hope and peace.  Just as in the fictional stories we create, it is the connecting line between our beginnings and endings that determines our life’s worth, and whether the finish justifies the beginning. From life’s sunrise to its dusk at nightfall, it is the time between, when the hours are long and there is blank space yet to fill…. with good deeds to perform, mistakes to forgive, connections to make and strengthen, and love to give, that matters.

It is said that while our tombstones are marked by the dates of our birth to the dates of our death, connected by the short little dash in between, it is in that dash where we make life worth living. In fact, this idea of the importance of the middle is the premise in Linda Ellis’s poem that later became a book; The Dash -Making a Difference with Your Life.  In her poem she says: 

For it matters not

 how much we own,

The cars…. The house… the cash,

What matters is how we live and love,

and how we spend our dash.

“In Medias Res” is defined as “into the middle of a narrative, without preamble”.  No introduction, preface, or explanation to help the reader understand how and why she arrived there.  It is simply the place she was dumped, with the expectation to figure things out as she stumbles, skips, or runs through the author’s storyline.  This technique is often used to maintain the reader’s attention, to keep her thinking about what is going to happen next and what happened already to get the characters to their current situation.  It is a way to engage the reader’s thoughts, introspection, and emotions.

Just as the reader moves back and forth along the author’s storyline, we as individuals think, feel and act along our own dash-line.  We have the power to decide what is important or trivial, what makes that thin line stronger or weaker, and whether we make the best of our dash.  It is in our gratitude of blessings and the way we employ that awareness along the line in the middle that either memorializes or diminishes the time we spend here.

Pointedly, this idea, which follows along with Linda Ellis’s poignant message, is depicted further in Ron Tranmer’s own interpretation of The Dash Between, in which he states the following:

The dash serves as an emblem,

of our time here on earth,

and although small,

it stands for all,

our years of life, and worth.

 (Both full poems, by Ellis and Tranmer, follow at the end of this blog.)

We can waste the time we have wishing we had more money, more time or more likes on our social media, but in reality, money only goes so far, we only have so much time to make the best of, and well, I don’t think I need to say anything more about likes on social media.  What IS important to create, nurture and execute along our dash is love, forgiveness, and compassion.  It is the love we share, the connections we build and preserve, the people we help, and the good deeds we perform, that thickens the dash-line, just as the impacting scenes we write strengthens the story-line in our fiction.

As I sit here in the middle of the year, in the middle of my favorite season of summer, in the middle of the week, and in the middle of my day, I think of all the middles I’ve lived so far.  The afternoons between the morning dawns and the twilight’s to close each precious day, the time between my children’s birth and becoming adults, the middle of my life in which I made the most differences ( admittedly, some of which were not positive), and achieved and witnessed the most important milestones, and created the best memories.  It is the middle of things, in the “In Medias Res” of my own story that connects and validates the first chapter with my last and it is this special section, or season, of our stories that measures the value of the dash between our chapters and our years.

THE DASH by Linda Ellis

I read of a man who stood to speak

At the funeral of a friend

He referred to the dates on the tombstone

From the beginning … to the end

He noted that first came the date of  birth

And spoke the following date with tears,

But he said what mattered most of all

Was the dash between those years.

For that dash represents all the time

That they spent alive on earth

And now only those who loved them

Know what that little line is worth.

For it matters not, how much we own

The cars… the house.. the cash.

What matters is how we live and love

And how we spend our dash.

So, think about this long and hard.

Are there things you’d like to change?

For you never know how much time is left

That can still be rearranged.

If we could just slow down enough

To consider what’s true and real

And always try to understand

The way other people feel.

And be less quick to anger

And show appreciation more

And love the people in our lives

Like we’ve never loved before.

If we treat each other with respect

And more often wear a smile,

Remembering this special dash

Might only last a little while

So, when your eulogy is being read

With your life’s actions to rehash…

Would you be proud of the things they say

About how you spent YOUR dash?

THE DASH BETWEEN, by Ron Tranmer

I knelt there at the headstone

Of one I love and cried.

Name, with dates of birth and death

Were perfectly inscribed.

I pondered these two dates

And how little they both mean

When compared to the tiny dash

That lies there in between.

The dash serves as an emblem

Of our time here on earth

And although small, it stands for all

Our years of life, and worth.

And our worth will be determined

By how we live each day.

We can fill our dash with goodness,

Or waste our life away.

To ourselves, as well as others,

Let’s be honest, kind and true,

And every day, live the way

We know God wants us to.

May we look for opportunities

To do a worthy deed,

And reach out with compassion

To those who are in need.

For if our hears are full of love

Throughout our journey here,

We’ll be loved by all who knew us

And our memory they’ll hold dear.

And when we die, these memories

Will bring grateful, loving tears,

To all whose lives were touched

By the dash between our years.