The Creative Act: A Way of Being

Really cool book, the chapters are easy to digest and for any phase of life that you’re in. I’m glad this was recommended to me as I’m getting a lot of insight and value from it. Highly recommend.

This book was a wonderful treatise on what it means to be and live as an artist. It is comprised of short chapters, each more a musing than anything certain. As a self-proclaimed artist, many of the ideas proposed were things I had considered before, but they were still refreshing to hear from a living artistic legend like Rick Rubin (co-founder of Def Jam records and winner of eight Grammy awards). As he writes, “artists allow us to see what we are unable to see, but somehow already know.” This is how I felt reading his book!Many of my friends who work traditional jobs, ones with a start time and an end time, sometimes ask me when my weekend is. The thing is, artists don’t really take ‘time off.’ Do we go on vacation? Sure. But we never turn ourselves off from drinking in what life has to offer, for who knows when that next seed of an idea will present itself, one that we must surely plant and nurture. It is the artist’s job to always remain open and ready to receive these seeds.How do we know when a work is finished? Of course, there is no ‘correct’ answer, it is more of a feeling. We work until it is done; sometimes a project requires long grueling hours and sometimes creating is a short and pleasant endeavor. Regardless what medium of art we are crafting in, “the amount of time we put in and the results we get are rarely in balance. A large movement may materialize all at once; other times a tiny detail may take days. And there’s no predicting how much of a role either will play in the final outcome.” As someone who has written music for over a decade, I can attest that this is true.One of the hardest aspects of being an artist is feeling successful. What happens when we publish a book, but fail to get anybody to read it? Or film a movie that nobody watches, or produce a song that nobody hears? Luckily, Rubin has an answer for this quandary of the soul as well, reminding us that “success has nothing to do with variables outside yourself.” Once we have finished with our current work, and are ready to release it to the world, we are successful. It is something that “occurs in the privacy of the soul.”From finding ideas, crafting them, editing them, believing in them, releasing them, getting feedback, all the way to starting again, Rubin’s book touches on every aspect of living the creative life. It is full of wisdom that I will surely revisit in times of need.The most important question it asks is: Why make art?The answer: To connect.

I enjoyed reading this book. Lots of food for thought. Encouraging. I’m glad I got to read it! Thank you, Rick Rubin!

Released in 2023, The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin is a bible of highly quotable material that all artists should read.Rubin, a music producer of such acts including The Beastie Boys, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and even Jay-Z, is like a zen master. His expertise lies in what he hears and how he is able to suggest and or push an artist to dig deeper or go father, or think differently than they currently do—just think of him as an oracle.The creative act, as the title states, can refer to whatever type of “art” you are studying or producing. Whether you are a musician, photographer, painter, or designer, it doesn’t matter. Every single thing he discusses within this book applies. I found it to be one of the best books that I have ever read on the subject of creativity. It should be a required reading book for anyone in art school or trying to master a given craft.Each chapter is short and covers a variety of topics including: Creativity, Awareness, Self-Doubt, Experimentation, Momentum, and Success, just to name a few. Here are just a handful of great quotes that I found inspiring. I hope you read this book and become inspired too!“The objective is not to learn to mimic greatness, but to calibrate our internal meter for greatness. So we can better make the thousands of choices that might ultimately lead to our own great work.”“We're all different, and we are all imperfect, and the imperfections are what makes each of us and our work interesting.”“Distraction is not procrastination. Procrastination consistently undermines our ability to make things. Distraction is a strategy and service of the work.”“You are never alone when you're making art. You are in a constant dialogue with what is an what was.”“If we are aiming to create works that are exceptional, most rules don't apply. Average is nothing to aspire to.”“If inspiration does not come to lead the way, we show up anyway.”