I have decided to start writing book reviews. Both for myself and for you. Please do message me if you have different interpretations or ideas about the book.
If I were to ask you what AC-DC, Johnny Cash, Adele, Carlos Santana, Kanye West and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers have in common, what would you say?
Sure, they all have best-selling hits; but beyond that, they have all worked with Rick Rubin - perhaps the most sensational music producer of all time.
Why sensational? Well as the opening line shows, his diversity across genres is next-to-none. Whether it be metal, hip-hop, country, gospel, rock or pop music, Rick flaunts an unparalleled ability to unlock the best out of each artist he collaborates with. He creates a space in which art is free to flow and creativity is primed to reign.
Despite being a music producer, he doesn’t really play any instrument and doesn’t know how to operate a mixer…yet has 8 Grammys.
He’s referred to as the ‘Zen Master of Music’ due to his spiritual and minimalistic approach when making music. Everyone who works with him attributes a share of their success to him and his unique modus operandi.
He’s also one of the wisest humans I’ve ever listened to. In today’s review of his book ‘The Creative Act: A Way of Being’ I intend to share some of that wisdom with you.
🚀 The Book in 3 Sentences
A bible of how to tap into your creative state, and create special art.
According to Rick, the idea was to write “a book about how to make a great work of art. Instead, it revealed itself to be a book on how to be.”
A distillation of the wisdom Rubin has accrued over decades of collaborating with some of the best music artists and bringing thousands of records to fruition.
📖 Who Should Read It?
Anyone interested in unlocking their creative potential.
To be honest, everyone. Especially you.
📒 Summary + Notes
Rick lays out how creativity is a science that can be studied. It has laws that dictate how it operates; which in turn, help you in the pursuit of maximising your creative output. That’s the goal of this book; to teach you how to maximise and connect with your creative output.
Rick believes that the role of the human is to translate a message that the universe is broadcasting. Whether it be you, or someone else, that message will get broadcasted. Your sole job is to catch this message and give it attention. The rest will unfold just the way it is destined to do so.
He breaks down the creative process into 4 steps:
(1) Seed Phase - This is where you be completely open, collecting anything of interest. Be an open book. Editing or closing the door on something prematurely can close routes that might lead to beautiful vistas previously unseen.
(2) Experimentation - This is where you identify your preferred seeds, water them and see how they develop. No editing, just experimentation. Here you take the art seriously, without going about it in a serious way.
(3) Crafting - After collecting your initial seeds, and developing your best ones, you arrive at the Crafting phase. Here, the serious work begins. This is where the art begins to take shape and form its unique structure. Trim away unnecessary elements, shape it with care, and ensure that it aligns with your vision. Gather and sift. This phase requires critical thinking, analysis, and attention to detail. It might be useful to set deadlines to help with accountability.
(4) Completion - Final phase of the work where polishing the art takes place. Setting a deadline might either help or inhibit this process. It is imperative to close the door on a piece and move on to your next act of creativity.
He encourages artists to question all limitations and challenge their methods, as they might find a better way. Rules direct us to average behaviours; and so, examine the opposite as it might be equally as interesting. Sometimes, it is more productive to get off the beaten path and explore the unexplored. If an opposing idea takes the project somewhere with a stronger energetic charge, follow the new direction. The artists who define each generation are generally those who live outside boundaries.
Context changes the content of your art. “Imagine a flower in a meadow. Now take the flower and slip it into the barrel of a rifle. Or place it on a gravestone. See how the way you feel changes?” This goes back to the above point about trying different combinations.
Rick believes there are x2 types of artists (1) Experimenters - these folk like to taste around and play around with different ideas. They are also prone to progress slower and not finish a project (2) Finishers - this group of creators have the ultimate goal of publishing their work and can often cut corners in the ‘seed’ and ‘experimentation’ phases outlined above.
Patience. Just like a surfer patiently awaits a new set of waves to come in, an artist must wait for inspiration to hit. And when it does, you grab it by the balls and yank as hard as you can.
Be wary of the artistic process shifting from self-expression, to self-sustainment (ie when you sell your art to support your financial needs). Art is very much different when dictated by creative inspiration versus business decisions. Notice when you create in service to art, and when you obsess over what you can get from art.
It is healthy to pursue an unrelated career that provides security while keeping art as a hobby - so long as it is the most important hobby in your life. Doing both is a better way of keeping the work pure.
Art is for you to consume and indulge in. You are the only one who has to love it. The work is for you.
✍️ My Top Quotes
“To create is to bring something into existence that wasn’t there before.”
“Setting the bar low, especially to get started. frees you to play, explore and test without attachment to results.”
“Rules direct us to average behaviour.”
“If something strikes me as interesting or beautiful, first I live that experience. Only afterwards might I attempt to understand it.”
“The only person you’re ever competing against is yourself. The rest is out of your control.”
“Discipline and freedom seem like opposites. In reality, they are partners.”
“Time is where learning occurs. Unlearning too.”
“Sharing art is the price of making it. Exposing your vulnerability is the fee.”
“Competition serves the ego. Cooperation supports the highest outcome. Think of cooperation as giving a boost to see over a high wall. There’s no power struggle here. You are simply finding the best route to a new perspective.”
“If one collaborator likes choice A, and another prefers choice B, then the solution is neither A nor B, but to keep working until a choice C is developed that both artists feel is superior. C might incorporate elements of A, B, both, or neither.”
Rick has an incredible ability to define what creativity is. Here are a few of them:
- “To create is to bring something into existence that wasn’t there before.”
- “The ability to look deeply is the root of creativity. To see past the ordinary and mundane and get to what might otherwise be invisible.”
- “Creativity is an opportunity to communicate your singular perspective.”
- “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 an artist.”
- “Art is the reflection of the artist’s inner and outer world during the period of creation.”
- “Being an artist means to continually ask ‘how can it be better?’ whatever it be. It may be your art, and it may be your life.”
🍀Takeaway and How the Book Changed Me
My purpose is to value and develop my understanding of myself and the world around me. In turn, that will accelerate my ability to produce high-quality art.
Another role I have is to follow excitement. Where there is excitement, there’s energy. And where there is energy, there is light.
There are habits that can support creativity. Creativity-supporting habits include: looking at sunlight before screen light, exercising, retreat into nature. You must find the habit that most enhances your ability to create.
Now when something out of the ordinary happens, I will hope to ask myself “Why? What’s the message? What is the greater meaning?”
Creating is an opportunity to communicate what’s going through you. An opportunity to connect and let what be, be.
Awareness is a gift that allows us to notice what’s going on around and inside ourselves in the present moment. Cherish it. Then analyse. Analysis is a secondary function. Formulating an opinion isn’t listening. Neither is preparing a response or defending your position.
Creativity is not hard to access. It’s not a rare ability. You can learn how to access it.
There is a name for an artistic community where people absorb and exchange new ways of thinking. It is called a Sangha and it can be one of the great joys of life.
One lesson I learnt was when giving feedback, avoid making it personal. Always comment on the work itself and not the creator.
Rating out of 10: Given that SO many sentences of this book resonated with me, and that it opened my eyes to a brand new branch of science, I am happy to give this book an 8/10. This book is what many schools have lost – a guide to a way of being that is sure to produce more ways of being.
However, to be open to Rubin's approach, you have to be open to his Buddhist attitude including meditation & mindfulness - and that's not everyone's cup of tea.
It was a truly fantastic read that I will undoubtedly be recommending to dozens of friends.
More Book Reviews
- Maus