The Creative Act by Rick Rubinby Parker on TwosListeningFormulating an opinion is not listening. Neither is preparing a response, or defending our position or attacking an-other's.While creating and defending a story in your own head, you miss information that might alter or evolve your current thoughts.Listening without prejudice is how we grow and learn as people. More often than not, there are no right answers, just different perspectives. The more perspectives we can learn to see, the greater our understanding becomes.Beginner’s MindTo see what no human has seen before, to know what no human has known before, to create as no human has created before, it may be necessary to see as if through eyes that have never seen, know through a mind that has never thought, create with hands that have never been trained. This is beginner's mind one of the most difficult states of being to dwell in for an artist, precisely because it involves letting go of what our experiences have taught us. Beginner's mind is starting from a pure childlike place of not knowing. Living in the moment with as few fixed beliefs as possible.Any label you assume before sitting down to create, even one as foundational as sculptor, rapper, author, or entrepreneur, could be doing more harm than good. Strip away the labels. Now how do you see the world?Talent is the ability to let ideas manifest themselves through you.