Absolute beginners can have good ideas (a natural, as they say, or dumb luck) and really good advice and great ideas can come from the most unlikely sources. Beauty in the eye of the beholder, and all that.
Looks like the thread is moving beyond addressing the OP specifically, but here’s my input: It’s very important to listen to others because everyone has a different vantage point, which could be interpreted as a unique point of view or a real pain in the ass:
When people talk straight (not joking, bragging or lying) and the goal is to gain a deeper understanding of a given subject, they often end up describing their own limitations, very much like the parable about the blind men and the elephant:
From the Wiki entry: …the parable implies that one’s subjective experience can be true, but that such experience is inherently limited by its failure to account for other truths or a totality of truth.
Wow, that was a quick response. If you don’t mind my saying so, this:
doesn’t sound like a good idea to me. Friendship, respect and, ultimately, love are things that can’t be expected of others. All you can do is to try to do a good job, to feel good about yourself and to take a real close look at how much of your own bullshit you choose to believe (“you” meaning anyone).
