In this article at Big Think, Paul Ekman discusses micro-expressions, subtle cues that could tell others what we are really feeling, if only those other people were trained to spot those micro-expressions.
Everyone misspeaks in public from time to time. It really is unfair to pick on politicians for the occasional gaffe. But it is fair to ask at what point such gaffes are valid signs of a fundamental problem. I think Dan Quayle simply needed to stick to the prepared statements—he did not “wing it” very well, but he kept trying, and slipped repeatedly on his inherent inability to compose cogent remarks on the fly. But Romney is beginning to show some serious problems. Never mind his 47% statement, he was arguably playing to his crowd. But his recent remarks about being unable to open the windows in an airliner are very troubling.
Glenn Greenwald points out that we are faced with a dangerous and inconvenient fact: "Trusting authority is easier and more convenient than treating it with skepticism."
I very much enjoyed Brene Brown's TED talk on living whole-heartedly. She combines a humorous presentation with a deep and serious topic. At the outset, she recognized that "connection" is what life is all about, but shame (the fear that "I'm not X enough") destroys this sense of connection. To allow connection, we need to take chances; we need to allow ourselves to be SEEN. With this as the context, Brown set out to understand more about shame. It boils down to whether someone BELIEVES that they are worthy of love and belonging. The one thing that destroys a sense of love and connection is a fear that one is not worthy of love and belonging. People with a sense of worthiness, the "whole-hearted," have the courage to be imperfect. They have the compassion to be kind to themselves first, and then to others (because you can't do the latter without doing the former), They also develop their sense of connection as a result of being authentic. They believe that what makes them vulnerable is what makes them beautiful--these are people who are willing to do something where there are no guarantees. Vulnerability is the core of our sense of shame and fear, but it is also the "birthplace" of joy, of creativity, belonging and love." Brown's research showed that many of us "numb" vulnerability through our many addictions and obsessions. We can't selectively numb the bad emotions without also numbing the good emotions. Because we numb all of our emotions, we then instinctively feed our cravings through our destructive addictions. We compensate by trying to make uncertain things certain. We also compensate by blaming. We try to perfect ourselves and our children. We also pretend that what we do does not have an impact on other people. We don't know how to say that we're sorry and that we'll make things right. Brown's advice: Don't be afraid to be seen for the vulnerable people we are. We must learn to love with our whole hearts, even when there is no guarantee. We need to practice gratitude and "lean into joy." Most important, we need to learn to recognize that "we are enough," because we then stop screaming and start listening. "Only then can we be kinder and gentler to ourselves and the people around us."
People at the Houston airport complained that it took too long to get their luggage. According to the NYT,
[A]irport executives undertook a more careful, on-site analysis. They found that it took passengers a minute to walk from their arrival gates to baggage claim and seven more minutes to get their bags. Roughly 88 percent of their time, in other words, was spent standing around waiting for their bags. So the airport decided on a new approach: instead of reducing wait times, it moved the arrival gates away from the main terminal and routed bags to the outermost carousel. Passengers now had to walk six times longer to get their bags. Complaints dropped to near zero.Several other good examples in this article. Bottom line is that it's torture to wait in line if you are not distracted in some way. A watched pot never boils. Various business take various approaches to distracting you.