Golden Age Thinking - a label to help explain oneself

There is nothing like a label to help explain oneself – thank you Woody Allen.

The first time I saw Midnight in Paris I remember thinking what a beautiful film composed of a montage of postcard-pretty Parisian street scenes. I had missed completely Paul’s criticism of Gil Pender, accusing him of harbouring a "Golden Age Thinking" style.

Midnight in Paris is a romantic comedy fantasy film written and directed by Woody Allen. Taking place in Paris, the film follows Gil Pender, a screenwriter, who is forced to confront the shortcomings of his relationship with his materialistic fiancée and their divergent goals, which become increasingly exaggerated as he travels back in time each night and exploring, along the way, the contrasts of nostalgia and modernism.

Woody Allen offers a thought-provoking proposition. The idea that (the erroneous notion) that a different time period is better than the one one's living in. That it a flaw in the romantic imagination of those people who find it difficult to cope with the present and that nostalgia is denial, denial of the painful present. He calls this golden age thinking. 

It takes 21 days to change a habit

Yesterday as a part of a presentation I gave at the National Disability Service support worker’s conference, I talked about the old adage, “It takes 21 days to change a habit”. The thrust of my mention was about reinforcement, breaking habits, and building new ones.

We’ve known for years about the neuroplasticity — the brain’s capacity to create new pathways, a crucial part of recovery for anyone who loses a sense or a cognitive or motor ability. But it can also be part of everyday life for all of us. While it is often true that learning is easier in childhood, neuroscientists now know that the brain does not stop growing, even in our later years. Every time we practice an old skill or learn a new one, existing neural connections are strengthened and, over time, neurons create more connections to other neurons. Even new nerve cells can be generated.