• College is not merely preparation for life. It is life.

• People always respond to the entire context of a communication, not just to the words it contains.

• Criticism reveals and reflects upon the critic.

• In-the-moment negative emotions such as guilt or fear can be extremely useful in illuminating a situation. They can provide clues about the motives, understandings, insecurities and emotional states of other people, especially those whose behavior is sparking the negative emotions. They can deepen self-understanding. The trick is to learn to read the emotions without either suppressing or being overwhelmed by them.

• Sometimes the hardest thing in the world to see is what is right in front of you.

• People sometimes view choices you make for yourself, but which they would not (or did not) make for themselves, as judgments against them. This is all the more true if the path you choose is one which, at some level, they regret not having chosen. It is easy to be confused by their resulting hostile reactions, but it would be a mistake to be deterred by them.

• Every new insight subtly alters your knowledge and perspective about everything you thought you already knew. Each new experience subtly alters your perspective on every aspect of your past.

• You aren’t really from somewhere until you go somewhere else.

• Changing the world for the better does not mean seeking a stable point beyond which the world stops changing. People need to be involved in ongoing, challenging, cooperative work to advance the common good. An essential aspect of being human is confronting and contributing to the mitigation of life’s imperfections.

• Love involves giving and receiving permission to be who you truly are.

• A mouse trapped in a maze never sees the maze, only a series of straight paths and corners.

• Knowledge derived from breaking things or processes down into their smallest component parts is incomplete. It excludes the broadest patterns, most subtle and profound connections and deepest meanings.

• All people yearn, at some level, to become whole, connect authentically with the universe, be who they really are and fulfill their potential.

• What feels like inability and weakness may actually be undiscovered or unrevealed talent and strength.

• Winning an argument is not the same thing as achieving progress toward the objective at the heart of the argument. Sometimes winning an argument can hinder such progress.

• Staying too close to an admired person for too long can stunt one’s growth. When the admired person is nearby, adopting the person’s admirable behaviors and thought processes may feel presumptuous or unnecessary.

• All conscious perceptions involve value judgments and assumptions, as do all descriptions of things or situations in the world. No word can precisely express any objective meaning.

• A part of the judgment involved in human perceptions is the filtering and prioritization of inputs. In order to focus on the highest-priority information, people take vast portions of their experiences and environments for granted. They adapt to their environments unconsciously, absorbing and relying on a common set of values and assumptions, some of which they might reject if they ever became fully aware of them.

• Instincts, intuitions, emotions and dreams are extremely important sources of knowledge. The knowledge they reveal is intrinsic: located within the unconscious mind and relatively untainted by conditioning. Much intrinsic knowledge relates to people’s own true identities and deepest yearnings. The suppression of intrinsic knowledge causes depression and anxiety, and stunts personal growth.

• Symbols need not take the form of words, numbers and pictures. All things, people, actions and failures to act are symbols. Symbols can reveal fundamental truths because the unconscious mind invokes intrinsic knowledge to decode them.

• The contributions of the greatest scientists, poets, authors, artists, builders and leaders change not just our experience but our capacity to imagine. As a result of great works, there are more available thoughts.

• Great teachers empower students to think new thoughts, and expand the scope of their free will.

• Excellent teaching is not primarily about transmitting academic content from the mind of the teacher to the mind of the student, but about liberating knowledge and capacities already present in the student.

• True teaching transforms the teacher. True leadership transforms the leader. True love transforms the lover. True life is transformation.

Although it’s cloudy and rainy on this election day throughout Florida, the elections in the Sunshine State are red hot. There is so much electricity in the air after weeks of hard work and a rally in the state last night with President Bill Clinton. Thousands attended the event as they prepared to vote today. Many of the rally participants grabbed yard signs and stickers in hopes of influencing their neighbors or anyone they walk past.

After traveling throughout the state, I’m pleased to have worked with so many pro-equality campaigns that have been endorsed by HRC. Within every campaign, I connected with other supporters of equality. Working to mobilize HRC members and working directly for pro-equality campaigns, I have been met with open arms at every turn.  Volunteers, some having gotten very little sleep after last night’s rally, are out canvassing and phone banking today to make sure people get out of their houses to vote.

Here in Florida, the polls close in just a few minutes. We have been hard at work for weeks and we glad to see Election Day come.

I was at the polls this morning at 6:00am in Putnam County, New York.  My teeth were chattering and I kept myself entertained by seeing my breath.

But I kept warm by the thought that these last minute contacts with voters might change someone’s  mind, or make sure they voted in down ballot races for fair-minded candidates.

And, the cup of coffee brought to me by a sympathetic voter helped as well.

My own exit polling (measured scientifically by counting the thumbs up and thumbs down) shows that this is going to be a close race. Make sure that you are out there to do your part.

First of all, if you haven’t voted yet, what are you waiting for?  Get out there and cast a ballot for pro-equality candidates!

After you’ve done that, settle in for the night along with HRC as we track pro-equality campaigns around the country.  There are a number of ways to plug in:

• Go to our election headquarters at www.hrc.org/2010election/.  There you’ll find key races for LGBT people as well as Facebook and Twitter apps to continue the conversation with your friends.
• Speaking of Facebook and Twitter, HRC will be updating our followers on the social networks all night.  Follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/HumanRightsCampaign and on Twitter at twitter.com/hrc.
• Catch-up on HRC’s involved in this cycle’s races in our blog election archive.

The following post comes from  HRC Field Fellow Errin E. Doyle. Errin is just one of 30 HRC staff that are on the ground fighting in elections accross the country, working with HRC-endorsed candidates and engaging our membership about the today’s elections:

It’s Election Day, and western New York is full of buzz about the Democratic candidate for the 58th senate district, Tim Kennedy. Tim is offering Buffalo constituents a new face in Albany; ready to change the way business is done and be the voice of communities that have been forgotten. Being distinct from his opposition, Tim is the only candidate in this district who supports marriage equality. Tim’s candidacy is a grassroots effort, powered by community volunteers. HRC members have played a key role in the campaign, organizing voter contact and coordinating volunteers. Recent recruits include members of the University at Buffalo’s College Democrats, who joined us last night eager to help reach voters. As a student at Buffalo State College, I am always excited to see other students getting involved in government. Working alongside other young activists is a great reminder that we can all make a difference by being informed and by getting involved.

All of the campaign’s work throughout the year is coming to fruition. The field office is bustling with Tim and his supporters, making thousands of phone calls and knocking on hundreds of doors. We are reminding the 58th district to vote tomorrow for a candidate that will follow through on their word to support equal rights for all of New York’s citizens.

Keep checking on HRC Back Story all evening long, and into tomorrow, as we bring you result from around the country on elections that matter to LGBT people, our families and our allies.