In The Creative Act: A Way of Being, author and music producer Rick Rubin muses on creativity. The book presents his thoughts as simple reflections from his life and work. He acknowledges many varied modes of creativity, while also focussing on the artist.
In the readers notes at the beginning, he says:
“Nothing in this book
Is known to be true.
It’s a reflection on what I’ve noticed—
Not facts so much as thoughts.”
The book is comprised of short chapters and poetic passages, and:
“…each of these moments
Is an invitation
to further inquiry”
I’m not sure I can say too much about this book, as I was just nodding along the entire time I was reading it. Everything Rubin says in the book is aligned with my own ideas about creativity. So, this wasn’t a book that radically altered my thinking. Rather, it offered validation, companionship in the practice of thinking about creativity. This leaves me with a very short book report!
“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.”
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