Sagely Salvaged

August 23, 2015

The Donald Trump Phenomenon: A Lesson On Evaluating Feedback Critically

Being a child of non-native American parents, reclusive from a typical childhood, and in large part raised by television (no cable, channels 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, and 13 only), provoked early exposure to evening and nightly news.

Without realizing it, I was introduced to and began to understand the world I would later inherit. Watching the news transported me into a severe world with no absolutes or without the protective cocoon parents provide.

So at the age of 11 (almost 12) my sixth grader teacher (Ms. Wagner) determine to not allow her day job deprive her from witnessing the first inauguration of Bill Clinton, I remembered when Ms. Wagner chose me to wheel in a heave metal stand housing a tube television and a VCR. The classroom window shades pulled down, lights off, all 36 students eating lunches on our desks, all got to watch that January 20, 1993, inauguration.

Looking back, perhaps the honor of receiving that hall pass was given in large part to the memorable sidebar conversations Ms. Wagner and I held regarding political process and personal opinions. (It was either that or her knowing I was most comfortable operating a VCR.)

Mrs. Wagner was an overt Democrat.

Me, I was fascinated by Ross Perot and was totally feeling the momentum of the Reform School Party created.

Anyhow, my candidate lost that election cycle. And If I’m to be totally forthcoming, the election of ‘93, mimicked all future presidential victories (i.e., ‘97, ‘01, ‘05, and ‘09).

While I have yet to learn who “should” win an election, I have learned that politics is an emotional business. I have learned that our political beliefs are closely tethered to our deepest moral values and are carefully constructed from the personal experiences that make up our lives. And when you combine all those experiences, values and ideals, you get a lot of one thing: emotion.

Emotions are important to understand for candidates and non candidates alike because they drive our behaviors as human beings.

Fear, confidence, hope, skepticism – they all serve as catalysts for our actions. In an election year, it is particularly important for people to understand the sentiments surrounding each candidate, platform, and issue, so we are better adept to anticipate the realities we are likely to face.

Leading me to observe the Donald Trump phenomenon, and to walk away with a lesson on evaluating feedback critically .

To explain Donald Trump is not all that difficult, explaining why millions of people applaud him is more of a challenge. There is a lot of speculation over why people like Donald Trump.

Donald Trump’s story is one about resilience; mastering the art to evaluate critical feedback. I believe Donald Trump holds an ability to retain his own power.

Retaining your power is about evaluating feedback to determine if it has any validity. While criticism can sometimes open our eyes to how others perceive us so we can make positive change – a friend points out a bad habit, or a spouse helps you see your selfish behavior – at other times criticism is a reflection of the critic.

Angry people may choose to offer harsh criticism quite regularly just because it relieves their stress.

Or individuals with low self-esteem may feel better about themselves only when they put other people down. So it’s kinda important to really consider the source before making any decisions about how you want to proceed.

When you receive criticism or feedback from others, wait a second before responding. If you are upset or emotionally reactive, take the time to calm down.

Keep in mind that one person’s opinion of you doesn’t make it true. You can respectfully choose to disagree and move on without devoting time and energy into trying to change the other person’s mind.

Bringing it back my personal awareness, while I have never correctly predicted who “should” win presidential office, I have chosen to remain politically engaged and am empowered by my own thought process.

July 30, 2015

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The Manifestation Of History

As a child I was taught that history cannot be changed.

Still a boy but not yet a man, stories of battles and wars were introduced. In time, the child’s teachers would assign a range of homework.

“Children, write a couple of sentences describing what happened at a monument, site or location learned in class and from your assigned readings, or make a diorama of the same asked. Extra credit for students who produce both,” said Mrs. Gage.

Luckily, when I wasn’t feeling groggy I was a good listener. I was able to strongly image whatever it was that my teacher read aloud. And I held a bit of artistic ability.

I couldn’t read. My parents were “off the boat” practicing their broken English onto my siblings and me, with us correcting and furthering our parents’ English as a second language. Parents too busy running a pizzeria to hear, let alone care, about a child’s obligation.

Even though I wanted to impress my teacher I knew that Mrs. Gage would be first to suspect foul play had I gotten my older sister to write words I would dictate to her. The month prior I asked my sister to transcribe my short speech. From there I would take her markings and symbols and trace them onto another piece of paper. However, my sister took it upon herself to deviate from my plan; instead, writing as a 10-year old instead of 7. ( Ugh! Must my sister self promote herself from being my personal secretary to her own CEO.)

What was submitted was traced back as a forgery of some sort.

Francesca, the sister I’m referring to, received a severe warning by her teacher to ignore the pressures of family; two parents and three younger male siblings, parents instructing her to pimp out phoned pizza delivery requests while her brothers nagged her to help with homework assignments.

Feeling too much pressure, Francesca had abandoned me. Worse! Francesca abandoned the family when she traded her sizable set of crayons for a few slender tubes of wood.

Although all of yellow in color, the markings produced were of a predictable grey…(Stupid sticks.)

So, I would opted for making a diorama, naturally. I had to satisfy my teacher’s request and bury the anxiety that comes when you’re not able but expected to know how to read. The aptitude I had built tracing lines and silhouettes no longer passed as writing. Mrs. Gage already caught onto that trick, too.

Before constructing a replica, a scene concerning voyage of pilgrims, I combed high and low, front to end, of that pizzeria. Eventually I would create a thing of beauty, really, spanning three feet at its base and mid waist the pizza counter.

Completed and ready for observation, what would frame a event in time would also depict how I viewed history: fixed, or solid for all time thereafter.

Fast forward to my growing into an adult, wherein words written by a freakin’ awesome Western novelist, a Mr. Gustave Flaubert, which read, “There is no truth. There is only perception,” came a shift of mentality on how I had observed history …Or at least the telling of history.

My view of something past is largely related to my individual experience. Things that have happened and that are happening right this very moment directly influences how I interpret the past.

And so, in this context, perception really is reality.

History was no longer thought as being similar to that completed diorama: fixed or solid. Instead history became similar to that PBS program, the one where an afro wearing hippy is gingerly painting: fluid, or to be continued.

History, to me, is more like witnessing that awesome hippy beat his paintbrush against that easel, the whisper of his voice as he paints “happy little trees.” And that feeling, like tiny tingles running across my neck and head.

I’m hypnotized and practically drooling.

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