Yeah, emotional management is key to magic, true. I tried at one time to produce emotions at will, much as actors and actresses have to do for example.
Im not saying go out and buy a suit and act like you're on a soap opera, but you get the point. Be excited, be bored, be happy, be sad, etc. Alternating these may cause undesirable side effects however. As long as your mental health is up to par it shouldnt get confusing.
Now, as to the Builders, Ghob and so on, what Hodson is referring to is the seeming clash of the spirit stones with mining. Now, while we try to get to know the Mineral and Plant Kingdoms, and we are likely to run into Fairy Folk/Elementals. The gnomes and other earth elementals are not terribly disturbed by minng, as it generates more vibration and active biochemical processes, in my understanding.
However, considering the aspect of a geode for example, my prime goal is not to split them apart as I did in my Geology student days, but to treat them as comrades. Same for the Plant Kingdom. This is the season they get ritually murdered by chainsaws and lawnmowers, so Imma sprinkle seed everywhere
As beautiful as Geodes are to behold, the fact remains that a spirit once resided in the stone, and by splitting them open to fulfill selfish desire, it has now been ritually murdered.
True, we must eat, there is no law in the Plant Kingdom against that, as they all follow the will and word of the God.