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The Creative Act by Rick Rubin

The Creative Act by Rick Rubin

by Parker · 310 things on Twos

A Way of Being
“The object isn’t to make art, it’s to be in that wonderful state which makes art inevitable.” - Robert Henri
Everyone Is a Creator
To create is to bring something into existence that wasn’t there before
Tuning In
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 ideas time has come
As artists, it’s our job to draw down this information, transmute it, and share it
The best artists tend to be the ones with the most sensitive antennae to draw in the energy resonating at a particular moment
Create an open space to allow creative energy. A space so free of the normal overpacked condition of our minds that it functions as a vacuum
As children, we accept new information with delight instead of making comparisons to what we already believe; we live in the moment rather than worrying about future consequences; we are spontaneous more than analytical; we are curious, not jaded
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
The Source of Creativity
Awareness
Awareness is not a state you force. There is little effort involved, though persistence is key. It’s something you actively allow to happen. It is the presence with, and acceptance of, what is happening in the eternal now
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
The Vessel and the Filter
If we choose to share what we make, our work can recirculate and become source material for others
No matter what tools you use to create, the true instrument is you. And through you, the universe that surrounds us all comes into focus.
The Unseen
By conventional definition, the purpose of art is to create physical and digital artifacts.
The end work is a by-product of a greater desire
The world of reason can be narrow and filled with dead ends, while a spiritual viewpoint is limitless and invites fantastic possibilities.
Faith allows you to trust the direction without needing to understand it
Look for Clues
When looking for a solution to a creative problem, pay close attention to what's happening around you.
This process isn't a science. We can't control clues, or will them to be revealed.
Practice
Widening one's scope allows for more moments of interest to be noticed and collected, building a treasury of material to draw from later.
When we repeat the exercise of opening our senses to what is, we move closer to living in a continually open state.
The real work of the artist is a way of being in the world.
Submerge (The Great Works)
Broadening our practice of awareness is a choice we can make at any moment.
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.
Nature as Teacher
It is through communing with nature that we move closer to our own nature.
Nothing Is Static
You can't step into the same stream twice because it's always flowing. Everything is.
The world is constantly changing, so no matter how often we practice paying attention, there will always be something new to notice.
No one is the same person all day long.
Look Inward
Memories and the Subconscious
There's an abundant reservoir of high-quality information in our subconscious, and finding ways to access it can spark new material to draw from.
It’s Always There
Regardless of how much we're paying attention, the information we seek is out there. If we're aware, we get to tune in to more of it. If we're less aware, we miss it.
Setting
It’s better to follow the universe than those around you
Interference may also come from the voices within. The ones in your head that murmur you're not talented enough, your idea isn't good enough, art isn't a worthwhile investment of your time, the result won't be well-received, you're a failure if the creation isn't successful. It's helpful to turn those voices down so you can hear the chimes of the cosmic clock ring, reminding you it's time. Your time to participate.
Self-Doubt
Self-doubt lives in all of us. And while we may wish it gone, it is there to serve us.
If we were machinelike, the art wouldn't resonate. It would be soulless. With life comes pain, insecurity, and fear. We're all different and we're all imperfect, and the imperfections are what makes each of us and our work interesting. We create pieces reflective of who we are, and if insecurity is part of who we are, then our work will have a greater degree of truth in it as a result.
If you're not up to it, no one else can do it. Only you can. You're the only one with your voice.
Make It Up
We get stuck with beginning a work, completing a work, and sharing a work. One of the best strategies is to lower the stakes
The mission is to complete the project so you can move on to the next. That next one is a stepping-stone to the following work
It’s helpful to see the piece we’re working on as an experiment. One in which we can’t predict the outcome
We’re not playing to win, we’re playing to play. And playing is fun
The work is not about perfection
Distraction
Distractions can keep the conscious part of yourself busy so that the unconscious is freed up to work for you
Distraction is not procrastination. Procrastination consistently undermines our ability to make things. Distraction is a strategy in service of the work.
Sometimes disengaging is the best way to engage.
Collaboration
What is true is that you are never alone when you're making art. You are in a constant dialogue with what is and what was, and the closer you can tune in to that discussion, the better you can serve the work before you.
Intention
Rarely if ever do we know the grand intention, yet if we surrender to the creative impulse, our singular piece of the puzzle takes its proper shape.
Rules
The reason to make art is to innovate and self-express, show something new, share what's inside, and communicate your singular perspective.
Art is confrontation. It widens the audience's reality, allowing them to glimpse life through a different window. One with the potential for a glorious new view.
The templates of the past can be an inspiration in the beginning phases, but it's helpful to think beyond what's been done before. The world isn't waiting for more of the same.
Challenge your assumptions and methods. You might find a better way. And even if it's not better, you'll learn from the experience. All of these experiments are like free throws. You have nothing to lose.
The Opposite Is True
Examine your methods and consider what the opposite would be.
Another strategy might be to double down, to take the shades vou're currently working in to the extreme.
Listening
Formulating an opinion is not listening. Neither is preparing a response, or defending our position or attacking an-other's.
While creating and defending a story in your own head, you miss information that might alter or evolve your current thoughts.
Listening without prejudice is how we grow and learn as people. More often than not, there are no right answers, just different perspectives. The more perspectives we can learn to see, the greater our understanding becomes.
Patience
We can't force greatness to happen. All we can do is invite it in and await it actively. Not anxiously, as this might scare it off. Simply in a state of continual welcoming.
Beginner’s Mind
To see what no human has seen before, to know what no human has known before, to create as no human has created before, it may be necessary to see as if through eyes that have never seen, know through a mind that has never thought, create with hands that have never been trained. This is beginner's mind one of the most difficult states of being to dwell in for an artist, precisely because it involves letting go of what our experiences have taught us. Beginner's mind is starting from a pure childlike place of not knowing. Living in the moment with as few fixed beliefs as possible.
Any label you assume before sitting down to create, even one as foundational as sculptor, rapper, author, or entrepreneur, could be doing more harm than good. Strip away the labels. Now how do you see the world?
Talent is the ability to let ideas manifest themselves through you.
Inspiration
Habits
“It’s the little details that make big things come about.” - John Wooden
The only person you're ever competing against is yourself. The rest is out of your control.
Good habits create good art.
The way we do anything is the way we do everything. Treat each choice you make, each action you take, each word you speak with skillful care. The goal is to live your life in the service of art.
Put the decision making into the work, not into when to work. The more you reduce your daily life-maintenance tasks, the greater the bandwidth available for creative decisions.
Thoughts and habits not conducive to the work:
Believing you're not good enough.
Feeling you don't have the energy it takes.
Mistaking adopted rules for absolute truths.
Not wanting to do the work (laziness).
Not taking the work to its highest expression (settling).
Having goals so ambitious that you can't begin.
Thinking you can only do your best work in certain conditions.
Requiring specific tools or equipment to do the work.
Abandoning a project as soon as it gets difficult.
Feeling like you need permission to start or move forward.
Letting a perceived need for funding, equipment, or support get in the way.
Having too many ideas and not knowing where to start.
Never finishing projects.
Blaming circumstances or other people for interfering with your process.
Romanticizing negative behaviors or addictions.
Believing a certain mood or state is necessary to do your best work.
Prioritizing other activities and responsibilities over your commitment to making art.
Distractibility and procrastination.
Impatience.
Thinking anything that's out of your control is in your way.
Create an environment where you're free to express what you're afraid to express.
Seeds
Collecting seeds is best approached with active awareness and boundless curiosity.
The work reveals itself as you go.
Experimentation
Being open to possibility gets you to a place you want to go that you may not know you wanted to get to.
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.
Here, we follow the heart. At some point, we may be able to look back and understand why the feeling arose. Other times we will not, and that's fine too. For now, this is of no concern.
Failure is the information you need to get where you're going.
Try Everything
We want to set up an environment where the decision making occurs free of the misguiding force of persuasion. Persuasion leads to mediocrity. To be evaluated, ideas have to be seen, heard, tasted, or touched.
It's best if the person who has the idea either demonstrates it or supervises the execution until it matches what they are suggesting.
When working through ways of solving a puzzle, there are no mistakes. Each unsuccessful solution gets you closer to one that works. Avoid becoming attached to the particulars of the problem. Widen your field of view.
Taking a wrong turn allows you to see landscapes you wouldn't otherwise have seen.
Crafting
Momentum
Once enough data is collected, and the vision is clear, it can be helpful to set deadlines for completion.
The business thinks in terms of quarterly earnings and production schedules. The artist thinks in terms of timeless excellence.
Keep in mind that it's also possible for something great to be made very quickly. An artist might spend five minutes sketching an idea for a project, and think very little of it. They might sense the seed of something great, and then spend hours or years trying to develop it into something more. But it is possible that the initial sketch or demo, born in all of five minutes, was actually the best version, the seed's purest expression. We may not realize this until after embellishing it or stepping away from it for a while.
Art is choosing to do something skillfully, caring about the details, bringing all of yourself to make the finest work you can. It is beyond ego, vanity, self-glorification, and need for approval.
Point of View
The goal of art isn't to attain perfection. The goal is to share who we are. And how we see the world.
Feel free to copy the works that inspire you on the road to finding your own voice. It's a time-tested tradition.
Breaking the Sameness
Exercises to get creative:
Small Steps: write one line every day. It doesn’t matter how good or bad you feel about the line, as long as you are committed to writing it
Change the Environment: turn off the lights, record in the morning
Change the Stakes: raise or lower the stakes with your imagination of what the performance means
Invite an Audience: being observed changes how an artist acts. The goal is to find the specific parameters in each case that bring out your best
Change the Context: play with who you are performing for or what the meaning is behind the lyrics
Alter the Perspective: whatever the situation, if a task is challenging to accomplish, there’s often a way to design the surroundings to naturally encourage the performance you’re striving for. Turn up the music or turn it down
Write for Someone Else: by creating something you’d be excited to hear your favorite artist perform, it depersonalizes the process and can allow the writer to break free of themself. Many artists have a perceived idea of what's in their wheelhouse, and that's ultimately a limitation. So it's helpful to step out of yourself and into someone else's wheelhouse.
Add Imagery: paint a picture you want the art to exist in
Limit the Information: be protective and limit people you’re working with from experiencing things that could interfere with their creative process. If you want creators to bring all of themselves to something, give them the most freedom to create
Establish different perspectives or conditions, and see where you or your collaborators end up
Completion
When playing music for someone else, we hear it differently than when we listen to it ourselves
We widen our own perspective
If someone chooses to share feedback, listen to understand the person, not the work. People will tell you more about themselves than about the art when giving feedback.
If you've truly created an innovative work, it's likely to alienate as many people as it attracts. The best art divides the audience. If everyone likes it, you probably haven't gone far enough.
The work is done when you feel it is
There is no right version. Every work of art is simply an iteration. One of the greatest rewards of making art is our ability to share it. Even if there is no audience to receive it, we build the muscle of making something and putting it out into the world.
The Abundant Mindset
Ideas are always coming through
If we live in a mindset of scarcity, we hoard great ideas.
The more we share, the more our skills improve.
Whatever we concentrate on, we get.
To assume there was a golden period and you're past it is only true if you accept that premise.
Putting your best effort in at each moment, in each chapter, is all we can ever hope to accomplish.
With each chapter we make, we gain experience, improve at our craft, and inch closer to who we are.
The Experimenter and the Finisher
Complete as many elements of the project as you can without getting hung up. It's much easier to circle back once the workload is reduced.
Often the knowledge we gain from finishing the other pieces becomes a key to overcoming earlier obstacles.
Temporary Rules
Whether imposed by design or by necessity, it's helpful to see limitations as opportunities.
If the goal is to create the most beautiful work possible, then whatever directives are truly in service to that end are the right ones
By breaking the rules, you'll come to have a greater understanding of your past choices.
The energy of wonder and discovery can get lost when treading the same ground over and over again.
Greatness
There is no more valid metric to predict what someone else might enjoy than us liking it ourselves.
Instead of focusing on what making this will bring you, focus on what you contribute to this art to make it the best it could possibly be, with no limitation.
With the objective of simply doing great work, a ripple effect occurs. A bar is set for everything you do, which may not only lift your work to new heights, but raise the vibration of your entire life. It may even inspire others to do their best work. Greatness begets greatness. It's infectious.
Success
Success has nothing to do with variables outside yourself.
Our calling is to make beautiful works to the best of our ability
If we second-guess our inner knowing to attempt to predict what others may like, our best work will never appear.
Most variables are completely out of our control. The only ones we can control are doing our best work; sharing it, starting the next, and not looking back.
Make each new work, no matter where you stand on the ladder of public perception, like you have nothing to lose.
If we can tune in to the idea of making things and sharing them without being attached to the outcome, the work is more likely to arrive in its truest form.
Connected Detachment (Possibility)
Zoom in and obsess. Zoom out and observe. We get to choose.
Point of Reference
Be aware of strong responses. If you're immediately turned off by an experience, it's worth examining why. Powerful reactions often indicate deeper wells of meaning. And perhaps by exploring them, you'll be led to the next step on your creative path.
Non-Competition
Art relates to the artist making it, and the unique contribution they are bringing to the culture.
Competition oscillates at a lower vibration.
Wanting to outperform another artist or make a work better than theirs rarely results in true greatness.
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.
Window of time. In this spirit of self-competition, task yourself to go further and push into the unexpected. Don't stop even at greatness. Venture beyond.
Essence
Distilling a work to get it as close to its essence as possible is a useful and informative practice. Notice how many pieces you can remove before the work you're making ceases to be the work you're making.
Refine it to the point where it is stripped bare, in its least decorative form vet still intact. With nothing extra. Some times the ornamentation can be of use, often not. Less is generally more.
Anything taken away can always be put back later, if needed.
“Perfection is finally obtained not when there is no longer anything to add, but when there's no longer anything to take away.” - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Apocrypha
Expressing yourself is all that matters.
Let's make art, and let others make the stories.
We are dealing in a magic realm. Nobody knows why or how it works.
Tuning Out (Undermining Voices)