When viewed as a question of balance, getting just the right amount is appropriately characterized as an acrobatic delicacy, a veritable work of art. It involves the critical application of self-expression to seemingly dry and purely logical elements, not unlike the components of any creation. There is push and pull; up and down; side to side; big and small; slow and fast; loud and quiet; bright and dull. Stability is not just steadiness but importantly also equilibrium or evenness. The trick is deftly estimating the two in the abstract, avoiding any compulsion to do otherwise, neither less nor more. It is an even distribution of weight not the denial of constituents.

The much esteemed via media is however not for everyone, whether by choice or by reason of unexplained (or unexamined) paramountcy. The mere fact that people are encouraged (with almost religious or moral fervour) to follow the middle road identifies a parallel urge to do otherwise. Some are naturally prone to overdo things, to eat too much, to drink too much, to speak too vociferously or too brashly. It is an excess apparently bred of the necessity not to overindulge but to capture all that there is without fear of unmerited or warranted deprivation. The promotion derives from a tactical insurance of success notwithstanding the ancient philosophy urging otherwise. Clearly there is a feature of compromise involved. And that can translate to “less is more” – a heady quip for a patently blunt and sometimes insurmountable urge.

Via media is a Latin phrase meaning “the middle road” or the “way between (and avoiding or reconciling) two extremes”.

Originating from the Delphic maxim nothing to excess and subsequent Ancient Greek philosophy where Aristotle (384–322 BCE) taught moderation, urging his students to follow the middle road between extremes, the via media was the dominant philosophical precept by which Ancient Roman civilisation and society was organised.

Not infrequently the recognition of the deeper meaning of compromise and self-control requires that one to step back at least momentarily from the immediate stimulation. This dutiful application is itself but the first instance of moderation. The hesitation doesn’t assure the result; but even middling friction is useful to an enactment whether speculative or categorical.

Getting just the right amount cannot be viewed as a contest – as though it were a race dependent upon supremacy. Indeed the very opposite is true: balance is equality. Competition is effectively diluted and subdued. Yet its ultimate achievement is intellectual not visceral; and, when skilfully practiced the blend borders the philosophical more than the epicurean analysis.

Featured image: looking upriver to the Village of Appleton