Sadly, a recipe for violence and destruction was served in the City of Vancouver on Wednesday night.
Place one Stanley Cup Playoff game in a large container. Mix in one part fear, two parts group mentality, add in a helping of Andy Warhol (fifteen minutes of fame via social media), liberally add alcohol and omit the intelligence of the heart.
By now, the whole world has seen images of the riot that occurred following the Stanley Cup Playoffs between the Vancouver Canucks and the Boston Bruins.
Who knows what went through the minds, but definitely not the hearts, of the small group of hooligans who went on a big rampage.
Perhaps there would have been less damage and fewer participants if they had known how to engage the power of the heart.
Consider that the heart is the strongest organ in the body. The heart can work independently outside of the body and its electromagnetic force can be measured in an eight foot radius (2.4 metres). It keeps us alive and it also adds quality to our life. Our language contains over seventy-five idioms to do with the heart, whereas there are approximately eighteen brain idioms. The heart is the essence of who you are, what you are and how you are.
When you act from the heart, you are acting with honour and from a higher place/plane. As you learn and practice techniques that activate the power of the heart, you'll notice positive emotional, mental and/or physical changes. Many notice an improvement in self-esteem, along with the ability and desire to act with more integrity. As you honour yourself, a Reverberational Effect takes place which positively impacts your environment.
Negative emotions such as frustration, anger or restlessness trigger a very different cascade of hormones than do positive ones. Paradoxically, the 1400 hundred chemicals have side-effects that can add more negative feelings, unless an intervention is implemented.
How does the city begin to heal? On Thursday morning, many tweets focused upon the positive clean-up efforts by the residents to help make reparations downtown.
On Twitter, @Scazon wrote:
"People are writing VPD thank you notes and putting flowers on a parked cop car in downtown Vancouver."
Post Stanley Cup Riot, the world is witnessing a labour of compassion; actions straight from the heart! Thank you.
When the mob mentality takes over, the hearts stop working. I have been in the midst of mob violence and have seen some inhuman behaviour but more of humane and courageous behaviour in the face of fury. It is only post event that we can dispassionately look back. I have always wondered what the hooligans did post event.
Ramana,
Yes, indeed.
I’m sorry that you had to get caught up in the mob violence. It’s heartening to hear that you witnessed kind acts in the “face of fury”.
Did you write about this?
No. Too painful to recollect. May be one of these days, with the right inspiration, say another act of heroism in a riot situation, and I may do just that. But, the riots in Vancouver, took the back seat, once the mooching photo hit the news!
Ramana,
I thought as much.