The Creative Act: A Way of Being

by Rick Rubin

Creativity is not a rare ability. It is not difficult to access. Creativity is a fundamental aspect of being human. It’s our birthright. And it’s for all of us.

To create is to bring something into existence that wasn’t there before.

To live as an artist is a way of being in the world. A way of perceiving. A practice of paying attention.

The best artists tend to be the ones with the most sensitive antennae to draw in the energy resonating at a particular moment. Many great artists first develop sensitive antennae not to create art but to protect themselves. They have to protect themselves because everything hurts more. They feel everything more deeply.

Most of the time, we are gathering data from the world through the five senses. With the information that’s being transmitted on higher frequencies, we are channeling energetic material that can’t be physically grasped. It defies logic, in the same way that an electron can be in two places at once. This elusive energy is of great worth, though so few people are open enough to hold it.

Artists who are able to continually create great works throughout their lives often manage to preserve these childlike qualities. Practicing a way of being that allows you to see the world through uncorrupted, innocent eyes can free you to act in concert with the universe’s timetable.

Look for what you notice but no one else sees.

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.

There is a gap between imagination and reality.

Ask yourself as many “what if” questions as you can.

Give yourself permission to be wrong and experience the joy of being surprised. When working through ways of solving a puzzle, there are no mistakes. Each unsuccessful solution gets you closer to one that works.

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

How do we decide which experiment to craft? We continue to follow hints of excitement. Each one of us has to find our own path. If several directions seem captivating, consider crafting more than one experiment at a time. Working on several often brings about a healthy sense of detachment. When solely focused on one, it’s easy to get tunnel vision. While it may appear a project’s moving in the right direction, we are too closely entwined with it to truly know. Stepping away and returning with fresh eyes brings clearer insight into next steps. Switching to other projects will engage different muscles and patterns of thinking. These may shed light on paths otherwise unseen.

The Craft phase is not just a building up. It is also a breaking down.

Remain open to doing whatever it takes to make the art as good as it can be, whether this means inserting yourself more into the details of the process or stepping further back from them.

Once the Craft phase is nearing an end, then we might start thinking in terms of fixed deadlines.

Crafting contains a paradox. To create our best work, we are patient and avoid rushing the process, while at the same time we work quickly without delay.

One is disconnection. If an artist is creating a beautiful work, and keeps endlessly crafting it beyond the need, sometimes they suddenly want to start all over. This can be because they have changed or the times have changed.