Sometimes being in the middle is great.

Buddhists sing the praises of the middle path, and the Dalai Lama seems like a happy person. We love the middle seasons, fall and spring, and the middle part of a sandwich, which is arguably the best part. Being the middle child means you are usually ignored, but you don’t get saddled with the responsibility of the older child and you aren’t babied like the youngest.

What is the middle all about?

Those in the middle are sometimes peacemakers and hold fighters apart, which can do a lot of good — apart from the rogue fist — and keep others from doing a lot of bad. Those straddling the fence have a nice view into both yards and can often help arguing neighbors come to an agreement about midnight drumming and overhanging vegetation.

“The middle” in journalism is about being fair. Much of journalism is a public service, providing information about multiple sides of the story so that people can make a decision about the issue for themselves.

However, sometimes being in the middle can be wishy-washy. It’s better to take a stand on serious issues like racism or drunk driving. Doughnuts have nothing in the middle, and being in the middle of the road or the middle of a lake without a paddle is not a good thing. Being in the middle of nowhere is also usually a downer.

We just finished an intense election season, and both candidates made sacrifices to stay in the middle, in order to appeal to as many voters as possible. Not all of us were happy about that. Sometimes, it is beneficial to hold onto an extreme, such as strenuously objecting to the killing of kittens or the wearing of mullets.

In the midst of this middle season, after a very middle-centric election, we thought it was worth highlighting the value of the middle. So, if you end up in a pickle or a fiery argument sometime soon, remember that the middle — like that of a gooey cinnamon roll — can be a good thing.