From the legendary music producer, a master at helping people connect with the wellsprings of their creativity, comes a beautifully crafted book many years in the making that offers that same deep wisdom to all of us.
"A gorgeous and inspiring work of art on creation, creativity, the work of the artist. It will gladden the hearts of writers and artists everywhere, and get them working again with a new sense of meaning and direction. A stunning accomplishment." --Anne Lamott
"I set out to write a book about what to do to make a great work of art. Instead, it revealed itself to be a book on how to be." --Rick Rubin
Many famed music producers are known for a particular sound that has its day. Rick Rubin is known for something else: creating a space where artists of all different genres and traditions can home in on who they really are and what they really offer. He has made a practice of helping people transcend their self-imposed expectations in order to reconnect with a state of innocence from which the surprising becomes inevitable. Over the years, as he has thought deeply about where creativity comes from and where it doesn't, he has learned that being an artist isn't about your specific output, it's about your relationship to the world. Creativity has a place in everyone's life, and everyone can make that place larger. In fact, there are few more important responsibilities.
The Creative Act is a beautiful and generous course of study that illuminates the path of the artist as a road we all can follow. It distills the wisdom gleaned from a lifetime's work into a luminous reading experience that puts the power to create moments--and lifetimes--of exhilaration and transcendence within closer reach for all of us. (Verlagstext)
Table of contents:
1. Everyone is a creator – Seite 1
2. Tuning in – Seite 5
3. The source of creativity – Seite 13
4. Awareness – Seite 19
5. The vessel and the filter – Seite 25
6. The unseen – Seite 31
7. Look for clues – Seite 37
8. Practice – Seite 43
9. Submerge (the great works) – Seite 49
10. Nature as teacher – Seite 51
11. Nothing is static – Seite 55
12. Look inward – Seite 59
13. Memories and the subconscious – Seite 63
14. It's always there – Seite 67
15. Setting – Seite 69
16. Self-doubt – Seite 73
17. Make it up – Seite 77
18. Distraction – Seite 85
19. Collaboration – Seite 89
20. Intention – Seite 93
21. Rules – Seite 97
22. The opposite is true – Seite 107
23. Listening – Seite 109
24. Patience – Seite 113
25. Beginner's mind – Seite 117
26. Inspiration – Seite 127
27. Habits – Seite 133
28. Seeds – Seite 143
29. Experimentation – Seite 149
30. Try everything – Seite 157
31. Crafting – Seite 163
32. Momentum – Seite 169
33. Point of view – Seite 177
34. Breaking the sameness – Seite 183
35. Completion – Seite 191
36. The abundant mindset – Seite 201
37. The experimenter and the finisher – Seite 205
38. Temporary rules – Seite 207
39. Greatness – Seite 215
40. Success – Seite 219
41. Connected detachment (possibility) – Seite 225
42. The ecstatic – Seite 229
43. Point of reference – Seite 235
44. Non-competition – Seite 237
45. Essence – Seite 241
46. Apocrypha – Seite 247
47. Tuning out (undermining voices) – Seite 253
48. Self-awareness – Seite 257
49. Right before our eyes – Seite 263
50. A whisper out of time – Seite 269
51. Expect a surprise – Seite 273
52. Great expectations – Seite 277
53. Openness – Seite 283
54. Surrounding the lightning bolt – Seite 289
55. 24/7 (staying in it) – Seite 295
56. Spontaneity (special moments) – Seite 299
57. How to choose – Seite 305
58. Shades and degrees – Seite 309
59. Implications (purpose) – Seite 313
60. Freedom – Seite 317
61. The possessed – Seite 323
62. What works for you (believing) – Seite 325
63. Adaptation – Seite 327
64. Translation – Seite 331
65. Clean slate – Seite 335
66. Context – Seite 339
67. The energy (in the work) – Seite 343
68. Ending to start anew (regeneration) – Seite 349
69. Play – Seite 353
70. The art habit (sangha) – Seite 359
71. The prism of self – Seite 363
72. Let it be – Seite 369
73. Cooperation – Seite 371
74. The sincerity dilemma – Seite 379
75. The gatekeeper – Seite 385
76. Why make art? – Seite 391
77. Harmony – Seite 397
78. What we tell ourselves – Seite 403