7 Powerful Rick Rubin Quotes for the Creative Mavericks Who Are Tired of Being Told They'll Amount to Nothing
From the book 'The Creative Act: A Way of Being'
I’ve been observing the digital creator economy long enough to know both its ups and downs so well that certain patterns seem predictable.
There’s so much bullshit.
And very few flecks of gold. But the flecks of gold are what I’m living for. And they’re what I hold onto when the bullshit seems to overpower it.
Rick Rubin’s book The Creative Act: A Way of Being was published in January this year and it was a highly anticipated book.
I felt like I really needed this book. Like it’s almost the equivalent to a Bible for creatives who want to be free to show up in the world however they wish and not be so restrained by “the rules” on how to be popular, successful, and rich.
Now I am more than okay with creatives earning a living from what they produce and getting recognized for it. That’s what many of us hope for. It makes me happy when my favorite songwriters, poets, fiction writers, and essayists make it big... even if they’re not household names, I’m happy they are successful enough to the point where they can quit their stressful restaurant jobs.
But the main thing I’m not okay with is the false notion that success has to look a certain way or you have to be restricted to the same few genres/niches for it to be valid. I’m tired of the algorithmic mass production mentality.
I despise the prevalent attitude that if you dare to experiment and maximize all the unique aspects of yourself, you’ll end up as an obscure, broke starving artist that the audience will always ignore. Maybe there is some truth to that, but being constrained has never made me happy.
I want to live my life as the exception to this rule.
The creatives I admire most are the ones who are rich with individuality and don’t use the same formulas as everyone else—and they end up surpassing everyone who’s told them not to be themselves. Sure they will struggle more than those who play it safe initially, but eventually, people will start to appreciate their mastery that no one else can copy.
Rick Rubin is one of those people—he’s a highly successful producer who’s worked with artists like Johnny Cash, Tom Petty, Beastie Boys, Aerosmith, and Adele. He won a GRAMMY nine times in his life so far. It shows that sticking to your long-term vision—no matter how much the naysayers tell you that you shouldn’t—is ultimately worth it.
I want to zig while everyone else zags. I’m aiming for timelessness. I’m aiming to be the exact opposite of disingenuous opportunists and those who chase a clichéd version of success they’ve been told they should want.
I’ve often been told I’m arrogant for aiming for that. For wanting more than just the 15 seconds of fame that we’re told to hustle for.
Well, who’s the arrogant one—the one who says you’re a loser and can’t be free because you’re an outsider? Or the one who affirms that you should free yourself and heal yourself however you wish?
Here are quotes that will empower you, even when it seems like you’re alone and almost everyone around you disagrees with you.
*Note: All page numbers are taken from the Kindle edition, which may differ from the hardcover edition.
On mysterious and mystical energy
“This elusive energy is of great worth, though so few people are open enough to hold it.
How do we pick up on a signal that can neither be heard nor defined? The answer is not to look for it. Nor do we attempt to predict or analyze our way into it. Instead, we create an open space that allows it. A space so free of the normal overpacked condition of our minds that it functions as a vacuum. Drawing down the ideas that the universe is making available.
This freedom is not as difficult to achieve as one might think. We all start with it. As children, we experience much less interference between receiving ideas and internalizing them. 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. Even the most ordinary experiences in life are met with a sense of awe. Deep sadness and intense excitement can come within moments of each other. There’s no façade and no attachment to a story.
Artists who are able to continually create great works throughout their lives often manage to preserve these childlike qualities. 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.” —Rick Rubin (p. 8-9)
There are content creators out there who say that writing should be treated like your 9-5. Sure they are successful and make a lot of money selling this idea, but I often feel dissatisfied with their work because it’s missing something I crave.
The ones I’m most drawn to are those who believe that creating is sacred and that it can offer so much more than what’s limited to the physical world.
They respect the unseen and mystical aspect of it. And they dare not reduce to something lesser.
I get furious when people say that creative writing should be reduced to something utilitarian and mundane like a boring job.
“Plumbers don’t have plumber’s block.”
Oh yeah? Well creative writing isn’t the same as fixing toilets. There’s nothing mysterious or magical about fixing toilets. It’s rote and mechanical. Writing to a certain extent can be rote and mechanical if you are writing for a business and to help make someone else money.
If you do client work or write proposals for the government, it’s different from writing a novel or a song. No matter what anyone says, you can’t treat the latter like the former.
Yes, it’s good to establish a routine and reduce how often you procrastinate, but those kinds of writing are still worlds apart.
If you are writing for yourself and for an audience that wants so much more than just pragmatic and utilitarian writing, you must treat creativity with more reverence than filling out spreadsheets, doing someone’s taxes, or fixing toilets.
The difference in attitude is why some writers stand the test of time and why others eventually settle for being another cog in a machine.
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