Day 188: The Creative Act, A Way of Being

I took an interlude to my spy novels and decided to read this book from widely renowned music produce Rick Rubin. If you don't know Rick Rubin, he's quite the character. He started out in college with several thousand dollars, some music loving friends, and a dream, and carried that momentum into a career producing music with the likes of Johnny Cash, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Kanye West, and many more big names. As a producer, he aims to extract the best possible work from artists by giving them a productive environment to get in touch with not just their work, but also themselves. As the quote from Robert Henri goes on the very first page of the book: "The object isn't to make art, it's to be in that wonderful state which makes art inevitable."

Rubin takes his wisdom and whittles it down into a series of digestible chunks, short chapters that simultaneously make you want to slow down, and gobble up the rest immediately. You could read this book five minutes at a time if you wanted to, read a chapter in the morning and mull on the teachings therein over the course of a day, and then read the next when the mood strikes. Or you could read it all in two or three sittings. The style is a very adaptable one to your preferences, which I think suits the philosophy presented perfectly.

He often delves into the metaphysical and spiritual side of making art, but doesn't insist on belief in any one thing. Rules are for bending and testing as far as he's concerned, and the only one he adheres to strictly is to remain open to the possibilities at hand. Much of the book focuses on taking in information, how to be aware of the universe and get inspired. This is helpful for the burgeoning artist, or someone who struggles to find new ideas. For a seasoned artist this part can be very validating. Finding out that a creative professional with decades of experience has the same methods of consuming literature, testing ideas, and keeping track of the good ones made me feel like I'm on the right track.

The second third of the book focuses on the follow through to gathering these ideas. These stages are what he calls the crafting phase and the completion phase. Once you have a good idea, you need to take that seed and grow it into a complete work. He has some great methods on keeping good habits, staying energized to focus on the work at hand, how to whittle down what you have into what you want, and how to keep self-doubt and other distractions at bay. I liked the more concrete nature of this part of the book the most. It's also most applicable to my life right now, so I'm sure I'll end up rereading these sections over and over. He could stand to go into a little more depth sometimes, like when he formed a list of bad habits to avoid for example. I'd like to know how to avoid them more than anything, but I guess I can't ask for everything.

The last part of the book deals with what happens when you release your work for others to see, how that attention can affect you, and the weight of success should you achieve it. I'd like to say I got a lot out of this part, but it doesn't really apply to me at the moment. Maybe one day in the future I can look back and say it was really helpful to have some wisdom about keeping true to my own art when a bunch of fans are pushing me to write faster, but right now I think it would be a little arrogant to say I understand it. I imagine though that some of you more experienced artists out there with a big following could attest to the advice there though.

All in all, this is a comprehensive work about the creative lifestyle that I think anybody from beginner to professional could learn a lot from. Rubin's style makes this an easy read, and the knowledge he confers with it is essential.

Thank you for reading,

Benjamin Hawley