Matt Todd's Pursuit of Idyll Minds

Routine is God’s gift to the unimaginative.

Conversely, the artistically gifted tend to be restless, constantly seeking new form and structure in their work.

 – Dr. Robert Burton

The following is a collection of excerpts from Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman, pages 294 to 296.
 

The rational mind usually does not decide what emotions we “should” have. Instead, our fellings typcially come to us as a fait accompli. What the raiontal mind can ordinarily control is the course of those reactions. A few exceptions aside, we do not decide when to be made, sad, and so on.

A Symbolic, Childlike Reality

The logic of the emotional mind is associative; it takes elements that symbolize a reality, or trigger a memory of it, to be the same as that reality. That is why similes, metaphors, and images speak directly to the emotional mind, as do the arts.

If the emotional mind follows this logic and its rules, with one element standing for another, things need not necessarily be defined by their objective identity: what matters is how they are perceived; things are as they seem. What something reminds us of can be far more important than what it “is.” Indeed, in emotional life, identities can be like a hologram in the sense that a single part evokes a whole. As Seymour Epstein points out, while the rational mind makes logical connections between causes and effects, the emotional mind is indiscriminate, connecting things that merely have similar striking features. Read on »

Mastery in the emotional domain is especially difficult because skills need to be acquired when people are usually least able to take in new information and learn new habits of response – when they are upset. Coaching in these moments helps.

“Anyone, adult or fifth grader, needs some help being a self-observer when they’re so upset,” Jo-An Varga [Self Science teacher] points out. “Your heart is pounding, your hands are sweaty, you’re jittery, and you’re trying to listen clearly while keeping your own self-control to get through it without screaming, blaming or clamming up in defensiveness.”

 – Daniel Goleman, Emotional Intelligence, pg 266

If you’re curious about the petition reported in the Peace Arch News today, here is a link to the relevant sections of the Local Government Act: qp.gov.bc.ca/statreg/stat/l/96323_03.htm#part3_division15

Please note: I have given notice of my intent to enter evidence provided by others, however, I am the sole petitioner. Glenda Bartosh and Mary-Wade Anderson are just providing facts regarding incorrect information that was said about them during the election — they are not arguing for the petition, they are simply stating facts to set the record straight.

I was a players coach and it got me fired, but they’re the best. And if you don’t have the players going for you… as Napoleon said, if you don’t have morale, you’ve got nothing.

 – Don Cherry

Quoted from The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos Video Podcast December 15 2008

George Stroumboulopoulos talking with Don Cherry:

GS: I heard you once say, nothing you say, you haven’t thought about. So, if you ever get fired because you say something, you know exactly when you’re crossing the line.

DC: Absolutely. I can’t say, “well, just slip of tongue” because when I say it, I mean it. And if I go, I go. But I can’t say, “well, gee, I didn’t mean that.” So, I know what I’m saying.

Quoted from The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos Video Podcast December 15 2008

Free market capitalism is as much a fantasy as Marxism. And it’s fascinating to talk to people who believe in free markets — it’s exactly like talking to a Marxist — because when everything’s screwed up, it’s because it wasn’t pure enough; The free markets were a disaster because they weren’t free enough.

 – Larry Beinhart

Larry Beinhart is the author whose book became the movie Wag the Dog.

Quoted from The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos Video Podcast December 11 2008

We have a pretty good regulatory environment here. It’s a big regulatory environment in the US too, but it’s a lot more driven here on principle, where it’s a lot more rule-based in the US. And we’re culturally a lot more conservative.

 – Arkadi Kuhlmann answering a question about the differences between Canada and US in the problems that created the current economic problems.

Quoted from The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos Video Podcast December 17 2008

This description from The Hour: Banking juggernaut Arkadi Kuhlmann runs ING, rides Harleys and reads palms.

[Referring to Roosevelt pulling the country "up by the bootstraps" out of the Great Depression] It takes one great man who’s humanistic and understands people and lifts everybody up and gives everybody jobs.

[Abraham Lincoln is] the greatest president that America ever had. And funny enough, just before he was assassinated, he said, what we have to do is feed the poverty in America, and then go to Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan and Africa and feed them and there won’t be any wars. And everybody did the opposite. They gave them guns.

 – Tony Bennett answering a question about his memories of the Great Depression

Quoted from The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos Video Podcast December 10 2008

I have two or three posts in my head that I haven’t written down yet. I’ve been distracted. Most of my time this past week and a half has been absorbed by a complete rebuild of the White Rock Youth Ambassador’s website.

The current site is difficult for the group to update. Consequently, they almost never do. The idea behind the new one is to make it as simple as possible to post pictures, updates and information about the community events and initiatives in which they are involved. Hopefully it will make it easier for the members to keep themselves organized and also be informative for the community about their activities.

If you’re curious, the trial site can be viewed at wrya.matttodd.ca. The current site (that is being replaced) is at wrya.ca. When the new site is thoroughly tested and polished, it will be moved to the wrya.ca location.

Now that I have a month of hindsight, hopefully I’ll have to some time soon to write about my thoughts on why I lost the election and what that says about our community, and what to expect from the new council and what impact to expect it will have on White Rock.