I have a mantra that can transform how you see people:
“You think different. You look different. You believe different. And that’s why I want to know you deeply.”
This mindset is necessary to unlock your creative mind.
You see, most of us live inside invisible cages.
We inherit beliefs, biases, and boundaries from the people closest to us.
We accepted them because they helped us “fit in".
And that's okay. But then eventually…
We stop questioning. We stop stretching. We stop seeing.
“Open-mindedness" is the bolt cutter. It snaps those chains.
When you embrace someone who thinks differently, you expand the edges of your world.
When you listen to someone who looks different, you shatter the illusion that your lens is the only reality.
And when you wrestle with someone who believes differently, you sharpen your own beliefs. Or sometimes, you shed them altogether to make space for something to become your new truth.
This is the artist’s path.
Not rigid. Not fixed. Always dying. Always reborn. Always cracked open by the world around them.
So the person who thinks differently than you isn’t your enemy.
They’re your teacher.
They hand you a priceless key: proof that your perspective isn’t the only perspective.
And in that moment…when your worldview cracks open…you’re free.
This is the true artistry…
Not clinging, but letting go.
Zen calls it “beginner’s mind”.
It’s not being an expert-know-it-all. It’s having the wonder of someone who sees everything for the first time.
Approach people that way. Approach life that way.
Don’t meet difference with resistance. Meet it with curiosity.
Because when you’re open to another person's strangeness, you unlock your own.
Their mirror doesn’t reflect sameness.
It reveals you how infinite, how fluid, how untamable you really are as a fellow human being.
So the next time you meet someone who unsettles you, who challenges your comfort zone, don’t retreat.
Lean in. Ask questions. Be curious, not defensive.
They may think different. They may look different. They may believe different. But that’s exactly why you need to know them deeply.
Because that is how you unlock the inspiration that can be gifted to you from everyone else in the world.
Stay creative,
