Artists who are looking to recreate life-like images of either landscapes, people or any kind of object that we see in reality, have to constantly battle with what is known as the “object mind” The “object mind” is the concept that each of us has an image of what something looks like in our mind. For example, if right now I told you to draw a mug, you would draw something that your mind has created as an image or concept of a mug. The mug, assuming you are not trained in overriding the object mind, would probably look somewhat cartoonish. It would likely not have the characteristics that we all know to be a real mug.
However, if I showed you a mug and told you, draw this mug, you would probably begin to notice a lot of details and new things about the mug. You would notice how the handle relates and connects to the body of the mug, you would see shadows on the mug, you would see dimensionality of the mug and how it isn’t just floating in space.
For artists, the object mind is a very real obstacle. They must train themselves to see past their idea of what something looks like to see what it actually looks like. The reason this is relevant for us is because there is a similarity to how we listen. Sometimes, we listen to what we think is being said, instead of listening to hear what is actually being said.
Our active listening can sometimes click off when we think we know where someone is going with an idea that they are sharing. As Scooby-Doo would say, “ruh-roh.” There is not much more we need to say here; the problem becomes quite evident.
So, what is the solution? As artists have learned to do, we need to constantly demand of ourselves to listen to what is in front of us, not what our minds are telling us should be in front of us. This is not a task that you can check off a to-do list, but something that you have to attend to and work on daily and in the moment. There is no shortcut, but like great artists, you can get better and better at it as you continue to practice.
To listening
