The Creative Act: A Way of Being

by Rick Rubin

Creativity is a fundamental aspect of being human. It’s our birthright. And it’s for all of us.

Facts

If you have an idea you’re excited about and you don’t bring it to life, it’s not uncommon for the idea to find its voice through another maker. This isn’t because the other artist stole your idea, but because the idea’s time has come.

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How do we pick up on a signal that can neither be heard nor be defined? The answer is not to look for it. Nor do we attempt to predict or analyze our way into it. Instead, we create an open space that allows it. A space so free of the normal overpacked condition of our minds that it functions as a vacuum. Drawing down the ideas that the universe is making available.

Being unemployed for me

Turning something from an idea into a reality can make it seem smaller. It changes from unearthly to earthly. The imagination has no limits. The physical world does. The work exists in both.

As artists, we seek to restore our childlike perception: a more innocent state of wonder and appreciation not tethered to utility or survival.

Living life as an artist is a practice. You are either engaging in the practice or you’re not. It makes no sense to say you’re not good at it. It’s like saying, “I’m not good at being a monk.” You are either living as a monk or you’re not. We tend to think of the artist’s work as the output. The real work of the artist is a way of being in the world.

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.

There’s a reason we are drawn to gazing at the ocean. It is said the ocean provides a closer reflection of who we are than any mirror.

The person who makes something today isn’t the same person who returns to the work tomorrow.

It helps to realize that it’s better to follow the universe than those around you.

Trust yourself

If you have an imperfect version of a work you really love, you may find that when it finally seems perfect, you don’t love it in the same way. This is a sign the imperfect version was actually the one. The work is not about perfection.

Sometimes disengaging is the best way to engage.

It’s a healthy practice to approach our work with as few accepted rules, starting points, and limitations as possible.

I might read a paragraph that inspires a thought, and while my eyes continue moving across the page in the physical act of reading, my mind may still be lost in the previous idea. I’m not taking in information anymore. When I realize this, I return to the last paragraph I can recall and start reading from there again. Sometimes it’s three or four pages back.

Then challenge ourselves to share what we see in a way that allows others a glimpse of this remarkable beauty. Talent is the ability to let ideas manifest themselves through you.

The goal is to commit to a structure that can take on a life of its own, instead of creating only when the mood strikes. Or to start each day with the question of how and when you’re going to work on your art.

Feeling like you need permission to start or move forward.

The temptation to insert too much of yourself in this first phase can undermine the entire enterprise.

If you know what you want to do and you do it, that’s the work of a craftsman. If you begin with a question and use it to guide an adventure of discovery, that’s the work of the artist. The surprises along the way can expand your work, and even the art form itself.

To dismiss an idea because it doesn’t work in your mind is to do a disservice to the art. The only way to truly know if any idea works is to test it. And if you’re looking for the best idea, test everything.

Taking a wrong turn allows you to see landscapes you wouldn’t otherwise have seen.

Once enough data is collected, and the vision is clear, it can be helpful to set deadlines for completion.

The work is done when you feel it is.

When there are no material, time, and budget constraints, you have unlimited options.

focus on what you contribute to this art to make it the best it could possibly be, with no limitation.

Your trust in your instincts and excitement are what resonate with others.

Zoom in and obsess. Zoom out and observe. We get to choose.

As Theodore Roosevelt pointed out, comparison is the thief of joy. Besides, why would we want to create with the purpose of diminishing someone else?

Being made happy by someone else’s best work, and then letting it inspire you to rise to the occasion, is not competition. It’s collaboration.

It’s helpful to work as if the project you’re engaged in is bigger than you.

Sharing art is the price of making it. Exposing your vulnerability is the fee.

If you’re looking for the work to support you, you may be asking too much of it. We create in service to art, not for what we can get from art.