The Creative Act a way of being Part 1 | The You Belong Podcast
In the next few episodes we are going to dive into the incredible book The Creative Act: a Way of Being by Rick Rubin. As photographers it is easy to call ourselves creatives, but do we really know the depths of what that means. In Rick’s book he covers 78 different topics about the creative. How to know it, how to channel it, how to attract it, how to utilize it, and so on. This is Part 1 of a 4 part series of diving deep into living a creative life by Rick Rubin’s words. So worth the time to listen for anyone wanting to live a truly creative life.
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Hey everyone, welcome back to the You Belong Podcast. Today, I want to talk about the book, The Creative Act, A Way of Being by Rick Rubin. So this book is 70 something odd, very short, usually about two and a half pages, thoughts on creativity. And all of it is amazing.
All of it is really pertinent to creatives and I felt like this would be such an amazing thing to dive into together on the podcast. So I'll be doing a series on this book and would love to hear your feedback at the end. So if you will listen to this, let me know your thoughts on creativity, if it was helpful for you or not. So let's dive in. So.
Rick opens up talking about everyone is a creator. And I know a lot of people don't believe this or feel this way. I mean, I have family members who are amazed with the work that I create, which I find kind of funny because I'm not that amazing. I don't think I am. And they don't feel that they could ever do something like that. And I think the point is, is that
with Rick's thought is that creativity isn't just art. Creativity is in being able to solve a solution to a problem, to find a new way to drive home, to come up with a chore chart for your kids, or all this act of just creating something, not the act of being an artist necessarily, but that everyone...
is a creator. We are all creating lives that we live in. So I thought that was really awesome. He says to create is to bring something into existence that wasn't there before. Even a conversation that is creating something and it is all fulfilling. Something that he talks about is that we are to be able to be creatives.
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we have to tune in to the universe. And this seems a little woo wooey, but I'm a little woo wooey. And I believe in this 100%. So I wanted to read, this is on page 95. He says, our work embodies a higher purpose. Whether we know it or not, we're a conduit for the universe. Material is allowed through us. If we are a clear channel, our intention reflects the intentions of the cosmos.
Most creators think of themselves as the conductor of the orchestra. If we zoom out of our small view of reality, we function more as an instrumentalist in a much larger symphony the universe is orchestrating. We may not have a great understanding of what this magnum opus is because we only see the small part we play. And as I totally think this is true. Um,
We live in this world where we think we get very small-minded. Our lives get very small because it's hard. We have a lot of things that we have to do in a day, a lot of responsibilities. And so it zooms in really tight to what we are needing to do in the day, what our life is like, our problems. But when you create, it's something outside of yourself. It is this much bigger...
than you thing and it is a connection to the universe, a connection to humanity and I just love that view of it. We all have the ability to be creatives like he said and to be able to do that we have to tune in to creativity through the universe and he calls it the source. It doesn't
is like a cloud. Let me read on page 14.
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He says, it may be helpful to think of source as a cloud. Clouds never truly disappear, they change form. They turn into rain and become part of the ocean and then evaporate and return to being clouds. The same is true of art. Art is a circulation of energetic ideas. What makes them appear new is that they're combining differently each time they come back. No two clouds are the same. If you have read Big Magic, it
she talks, I forget the author of that, I'll have to reference it in the show notes. She talks about this same thing, that creative energy is out there in the universe. It isn't ours, it doesn't belong to us, it is this universal energy and when something needs to be created, it tries to find a vessel to create it in and that person can create for it to have it come to fruition and if that
person isn't receptive to that creative energy, to the source, as Rick calls it, then it will move on to find another person to be able to create this. She talks about it in the book that she had this idea for a book and she never got around to writing it. And then a couple of years later, a friend of hers came to her and said, hey, I've been writing this book. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it. And it was the exact same.
idea for the book that she had years before but never wrote it. It was mind-blowing to her that this creative energy, this source came to her first but she didn't listen and it wanted to be made so it jumped to a different antenna as creative artists and our antennas to be able to be received and then become real and in real life. So how
Do we tune in our antennas to the source? How can we be in tune with the universe and tune with the source and tune with this creative energy so we can create big magic like the book is called, create these amazing things? The first thing that Rick talks about is your awareness. And this...
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is not a new idea by any means, especially recently, the idea of meditation, presence, awareness is really big. Everybody is in it or has participated in it in some way somehow. And he talks about experiencing the world without judgment or control, that awareness cannot be forced, only practice and persistence is key.
in tuning into the source. We cannot change what we notice, but how we notice it. And he says, the universe is only as large as our perception of it. When we cultivate our awareness, we are expanding the universe. So during COVID, I took a meditation class because COVID sucked and I was trying really hard to get through it. And I was having a bit of an emotional distress. So I knew that meditation had all these benefits.
and I won't go into any of that, but the thing that this meditation coach taught me was so interesting that you need to be present, which everybody knows, but to be non-judgmental of the present. At the time I was having significant health issues, I was in pain, I was dizzy, I was nauseous constantly, and I did not.
want to be in my present. I want it out of my present. So freaking bad. And to be able to sit with yourself non-judgmentally and allow whatever is happening to happen was very difficult. And hopefully it's not as difficult for you. Hopefully your situation isn't as uncomfortable as mine was, but to sit in here and now. So like, for instance, me, I'm sitting here with a podcast
In front of me it's recording. It's very, very quiet. And I would just need to let the day happen for a few minutes and just notice it. But whatever comes up, whatever thoughts or feelings or sensations come, I don't judge them. I'm more curious about it. And just let them, the energy flow through me. And then if it wants to leave, let it leave.
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and let whatever else needs to come in. And Rick is talking about the source and being able to tune into it like an antenna like that. So if these creative ideas or thoughts or feelings come to you that you aren't too busy, that life isn't too loud, that you wouldn't be able to hear the source speaking to you. Man, does that sound really spiritually out there. But it's so true.
So the next thing he talks about is the vessel, the vessel within us, which gets filled up with all the information coming at us every single day. It's a lot, and we all have...
We all have a filtration system. Because there is so much information coming at us, there's no way we can process all of the stimulation, all of the information, all of the energy that's coming at us. So from a very young age, we've learned to tune stuff out, things that we don't feel are pertinent or important or part of our survival or interesting. And the filter that we have for our vessel
needs to change so the source can come into our vessel. So we talked about non-judgment and being in the present moment. Something that he talks about is that we need to revert, even taking that idea farther, is reverting it into a childlike state. This newness
experiencing it without judgment but curiosity as a child.
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So we need to let go of opinions, things that we find are truth already, things that we think are lies already, cultural things that we may have learned that could inhibit our curiosity for the source. Instead, we wanna hold that information softly, non-judgmentally, and the more raw data we take in and the less we shape it,
the closer we get to the source. And the end byproduct of that is art. The tangible isn't.
I'll send you need to edit this part out. What you just said before the sentence.
So it's a really interesting way of changing our mindset around our day, non-judgmentally curiosity and presence, which has a lot of other benefits besides tuning into the energetic source. If you wanna dive into meditation more, maybe we need to do that in a different podcast, but it has a lot of other amazing benefits to it.
Something else that Rick talks about, like I said, there's a lot of different itty bits of this book. It's just itty bits put together. The next thing that he talks about that I found was very interesting and worthwhile talking about is the end byproduct of art. So we live in this world that is produce, right? We need so much content.
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If you're a photographer, you need content, content all the time. Content for social media, content for newsletters, content for websites. If you're an influencer, that's your life. Your life is content. It's just so much creating for content. But the end by product, Rick says, the tangible, the content, the photograph, the book, the essay, the...
I don't know, painting, whatever you're creating, the craft that you're creating isn't the point. Did you hear me? It isn't the point. That's not the point of creating, but the act of creation for creating sake.
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How do you feel about that? The act of creating can transcend us. We've all heard of flow and I bet you've been in a flow state. So for me, when I get into a flow state, I lose all track of time. I don't really hear anything. I'm just doing my thing and I'm so engrossed in it that I am in my own world. I'm in my own bubble, in this.
flow state and it just really great things are coming out of me and these ideas or production or whatever that I'm doing is this act of creating feels amazing. And if you've been in that flow state, I know you feel the same way that it was incredible that you would love to have that more often. It doesn't come all the time, but when it does come, it's amazing. And Rick calls it transcendent.
I love that word, because it does. It takes you to a different level. It takes you to a different place. It takes you to amazingness that you didn't know that you were able to do if you've never been in that flow state before.
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He even talks about it like the word transcendent, that it's like this spirituality. And if you're talking about the source and the universe and that you're a vessel, that is definitely ties into this spirituality part of things. I want to read the last paragraph of page 33.
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If a piece of work, a fragment of consciousness, or an element of nature is something allowing us to access something bigger, that is its spiritual component made manifest. It awards us a glimpse of the unseen. So creating for the act of creation's sake, to be able to transcend into that spirituality, into that place of flow, into that...
feeling of amazingness is the real reason for becoming an artist, for creating. It's not the end byproduct. That is a really great part of it, but it's not the true purpose of being an artist. So how can we perpetuate this
flow state, being more in tune with our source. We talked about meditation. Rick also talks about, there's so many different practices and it really depends on who you are and what your personality is like and what your needs are like and how your brain functions. So we talked about meditation. Another thing that I do is journaling. Everybody has heard of the artist's way and this daily journal thing. I call it word vomit, which is a very pretty term, but.
sitting down and just writing whatever the heck comes out of your brain. I do 20 minutes and just writing it out. My creative ideas don't usually come to me in that way. Sometimes I'll get a really profound thought when I do my creative, when I do my journaling. But what it honestly does is it just kind of empties out my brain or brains, some people's brains, at least mine is very busy, is very loud in there. And this is a way for everybody to have
and it gets out of the way so that I can tune in more conscientiously to my presence and try to find the source and that creativity. For some people it's prayer, it could be just coffee by the window and or outside if it's nice enough, just sitting in the quiet. So for some people it's exercise, hiking or running or...
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being in nature, gardening, I love gardening, that's another great one. So he talks about, you know, goes into this idea of being able to tune into the source through these different practices and to have it as a habit, to do it daily. And then also being okay with the practice needing to change. If this practice isn't serving you, if it isn't helping you tap into the source the way that you are wanting to change up the habit.
So you're able to do that.
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Another idea he has is to...
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immerse yourself in the great works. This is not a new idea. A lot of these aren't new ideas, but this one definitely isn't a new idea. I grew up where you go to college and you learn all these different things. It's not as in fashion anymore to do this, but to learn the greats. And I was a humanities person and I loved it. I loved learning about art and reading different books and music and submerging myself in
other great artists greatness. And that can be different for everybody. It doesn't necessarily have to be like New York Times list of the 25 most influential books ever. It can be just interests that you have and find the greats of those interests. So immersing yourself in beautiful works from other people.
The point of this is not to mimic the works. This is something that's very interesting. So I'm sure you guys have all heard that there is no new ideas, only recycled. And I believe there's a lot of validity to that, but I don't think people go, well, the majority of artists don't go out into the world trying to mimic things. I wanna tell you a quick story.
So my brother is a photographer, he's an architecture photographer, and he also is a teacher at a college for photography. And his birthday was just recently, and I gave him a book, an art book, and he was like, oh, I love this artist so much. And he was a great influence for me for my master's thesis. And I own one of the pictures from his master's thesis. And when I looked at the artist's book, and then I was...
realized that this giant photograph in my house is completely influenced by this artist. It just, I did not put two and two together until he told me that. And he got to this point where he realized that his work was looking so much like this artist that he completely revamped his style because he didn't want to copy.
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So we may not realize that we're being heavily influenced by artists and that's okay if you are, but to be conscientious of not copying, to be the idea for submersing yourself in greatness is to see true beauty, see the really beautiful things that the source and the artist has worked together to create nature.
Nature is a great teacher. It is the greatest work ever. Mother nature has made the most beautiful, wonderful things. There are colors that panetone cannot generate that the natural world has. It's so deep, it's so expansive, and it has so much to teach us. Being in nature, deepening our connection to nature will serve our spirit and what serves our spirit in...
variably serves our artist output. That is a quote from Rick. I don't need to say more about that. The beach, forests, deserts, whatever your personal feeling is called to nature, even if you don't if you live in a city, just being outside and or bringing nature inside, having plants in your house. I
I'm kind of a plant lady as you can see behind me. Having nature, being close to nature is a great way to connect to your creativity and the source. All right.
Um, a couple more things he talked about.
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A way to find the source is memories and the subconscious or dreams. I find this very interesting. I'm not really a dream person and if I do have dreams, they're not really fun. So this is something I would love to work on. He talks about having a dream journal. And
waking up and writing down what you just dreamt of. And the more you do that, the more that you'll remember your dreams and that this is a way to connect to the source in your creativity. He says the psyche has an admittance to a universal wisdom deeper than what we can come up with within our conscious mind. It provides a far less limited view. And that is so true. In our reality, we have rules that we have to follow. Physics.
gravity, cultural rules, monetary rules. And in the dream world, inside of our brain, there are no rules whatsoever. And in the creative world, whatever you can imagine is fair game. And I love that within our brains, within ourselves is this unlimitedness. It's so exciting to think about this, that inside of us is unlimited potential. And we can find that.
He also talks about in the early morning, I will, okay, I'll send remove that sentence.
I don't know if you've heard of this. Also another thing about dream state and when you're waking up that in between, it's kind of Peter Pan-y. I just thought of that. Tinkerbell says he'll always be that special place in between asleep and awake. And it is, it's true, it's magical. That's very Peter Pan that anything is possible in that space. Another thing I've heard of is that in the early morning is when the veil is the thinnest. And so these creative energies can flow into us. Maybe it's because it's
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It's quiet, it's dark, you're alone with your thoughts, but that creativity can kind of just flow into you, that source can flow into you with these special ideas. Last thing is setting. The setting is finding the best environment to create a clear channel is completely personal. So for some it may be complete isolation. It might be complete isolation.
in nature, it might be complete isolation in your home or your studio, it could be complete silence or it could be completely chaotic and busy like if you place yourself in a very busy place inside the city or at the park or wherever you feel comfortable and can be able to tune in to the
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helps to realize that it is better to follow the universe than those around you. Don't, okay, we're gonna take out that last sentence, Alison.
So this is just the beginning taste of this amazing book, The Creative Act, A Way of Being. I highly recommend it. I think there's 78 different little tiny chapters and topics that, and I'm not gonna cover everything, but I wanted to do this podcast since we're all creatives to dive into our creativity and to understand creativity better.
Like we all want to make, but why and how? And I would, this podcast is diving into that more and more and more. And I hope you enjoyed it. If you did enjoy it, please share this, share it on your social media, leave me a review, I'm share it with your friends and family or your email news list. It would make my day and my...
world so much bigger and expansive to have more people listen to this podcast and grow this community where every creative, every photographer belongs. So thank you so much for being here and thank you for being you.
