The First Mate
Our emotional brain takes shape in the form of the First Mate.
This is the spokesperson for all the emotions and feelings and ideas that bubble up inside us. Our creativity, our compassion, empathy, our drive, our enthusiasm, our passions! That is what they bring to the Ship.
Short Horizon
In their enthusiasm they have only a very limited view of time and space. They can see a few days ahead and few days back, but after that emotions tends to blur.
Changeable by Nature
Emotions are fleeting, and so is the concentration of your First Mate. They are easily distracted, quick-tempered, and sometimes fickle.
When they are happy, they are bursting with energy. But when they are uncertain or afraid, they become withdrawn and they lack the energy to do anything, and you may feel listless.
Voice & Purpose
They express themselves through images, sound, music. They do use words, but not very complicated ones. And certainly not in long, coherent sentences the way that the Captain does.
They are much more likely to not finish a sentence, or have their thoughts skip to another subject entirely mid-conversation. Even when they are the ones doing the talking.
Because above all, the First Mate is a dreamer.
Those dreams, those passions, is what fuels the Ship. It is what propels it forward. Your dreams are the goals. Your Captain may calculate and plot the course to get there, but it is the First Mate’s enthusiasm and energy that will propel the Ship towards those goals.
