Books I Love: The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin
I’m avoiding buying extra stuff this holiday season, however, a good book is something that I might make an exception for. Especially a book that will likely stand the test of time. If you are looking for a gift for a creative person, and maybe that person is yourself, this book might be one to consider.
When Rick Rubin, a well-known California record producer, said he was going to pen a book, most people thought it would be about his many years working with top musical artists. They supposed he might craft a sort of “tell-all” about his years spent in recording studios, creating hit after hit. People all around him suspected that he would do a deep dive into drug-use, partying, and general bad behavior of rich and famous recording artists.
And while he likely has some very colorful stories to tell, he instead, after seven years of writing, produced a completely different work.
The Creative Act: A Way of Being, is an unassuming looking book at first glance. It’s bland gray cover might make you mistake it for an old psychology text or a 1960’s tome on meditation in the far east. It has the look of something that I could have plucked off the shelf of any vintage book store worth its salt.
And I think that this particular design is no mistake.
Because, despite its release in 2023, the contents are utterly timeless and remarkable.
I bought this book to read last year, and am planning on reading it again over the holiday season when my family insists on rewatching Die Hard for the third time. It’s that good.
Rick Rubins is a cool dude. But what I didn’t know, was just how cool. He used the space of 405 pages, not to share music industry gossip, but rather, to share everything he has figured out about living a creative life. And it is all pure gold.
As I read through each short chapter, I came to see the author as a sort of modern Yoda. He’s basically figured out a lot of things about this strange force we call creativity, and he has selflessly compliled it into discreet sections that can be taken individually or as a whole.
Some of what he has to say in sections like “Self-doubt” and “Openness” and “Non-competition” sound downright spiritual in nature. But I think that is a huge part of what he is trying to say-that creativity is a sacred thing.
Most people may look at him and his outrageous success and think that creativity is a means to an end, the means to material success. But, what comes through very clearly in The Creative Act, is that creativity for its own sake is the point.
He makes the case that the creative current runs through us, like it or not, and that our understanding and mastery of it will greatly enrich our existence on this earth. While sometimes that enrichment is indeed material, creativity and self-expression through doubt and difficulty is the whole point. Creativity is the point of existence.
As an artistic person, this is a book I will return to again and again. It is chock full of reminders of what we intrinsically know to be true and hints at where to look for even deeper truths that can expand our creative experience.
Rick Rubin doesn’t claim to be a guru or a spiritual advisor or anything like that. If anything, judging from his website, he is a curious seeker. He’s just a guy that’s figured a few things out as he went along and was willing to write it down and pass it along. His dedication to serving the process of creativity as well as his generosity in sharing that with us is a huge gift.
I really dig this book. Give it a read and let me know what you think.
