Rick Rubin on the Art of Being Human
Self-Doubt, Sensitivity, and Creative Courage
This evening I'm reading famed music producer Rick Rubin's study of the artist's path. Some useful advice for fostering creative courage in ourselves and our students. All the more important in an era when we are exploring whether generative AI will crowd out, or amplify, human creativity.
I have written previously that many creative traditions around the world incorporate deliberate imperfections as a necessary ingredient of art - from the Japanese aesthetic of wabi-sabi, to Navajo rug weaving, to Islamic architecture. These reinforce the idea that there is beauty in imperfection, and that perfection is, in fact, the ability to recognise, forgive, and include imperfection, echoing the line “(t)here is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in” from Leonard Cohen’s “Anthem”.
“As children, few of us are taught to understand and prioritize our feelings. For the most part, the educational system doesn't ask us to access our sensitivity, but to be obedient. To do what is expected…
To be self aware is to have the ability to tune in to what we think, how we feel, and how much we feel it without interference. To notice how we notice the outside world…
Self-doubt lives in all of us. And while we may wish it gone, it is there to serve us. Flaws are human, and the attraction of art is the humanity held in it. If we were machinelike, the art wouldn't resonate. It would be soulless...
We're all different and we're all imperfect, and the imperfections are what makes each of us and our work interesting. We create pieces reflective of who we are, and if insecurity is part of who we are, then our work will have a greater degree of truth in it as a result…
While the emotional undercurrents of self-doubt can serve the art, they can also interfere with the creative process. Beginning a work, completing a work, and sharing a work these are key moments where many of us become stuck. How do we move forward, considering the stories we tell ourselves? One of the best strategies is to lower the stakes. We tend to think that what we're making is the most important thing in our lives and that it's going to define us for all eternity. Consider moving forward with the more accurate point of view that it's a small work, a beginning. The mission is to complete the project so you can move on to the next…
It is worth noting the distinction between doubting the work and doubting yourself. An example of doubting the work would be, "I don't know if my song is as good as it can be”. Doubting yourself might sound like, "I can't write a good song." These statements are worlds apart, both in accuracy and in impact on the nervous system…
One thing I learned through having spellcheck is that I regularly make up words. I'll type a word and then the computer will tell me it doesn't exist. Since it sounds like what I'm aiming to say, I sometimes decide to use it anyway. I know what it means, and perhaps the reader will understand the meaning better than if I used an actual word…”