An experiment: The Creative Act

"All Art is a work in progress. It's helpful to see the piece we're working on as an experiment. Whatever the result, we will receive useful information that will benefit the next experiment."

Thank you for all of the support and enthusiasm for my toe-dip into writing again last week. I was so moved by the number of people who shared that they also had been considering writing (again), but suffered from the same friction and mental roadblocks that plagued me — where to write, what to write, why write, who to write for, etc. But thankfully, I proved that you don’t have to have answers to any of those questions, you can just write, and see what happens! At minimum, your best friend will pledge $150 to read your mental diarrhea that she gets for free on multiple other channels, and your brother will write a responding post within 24 hrs (Check out a fine example of the art of venturing…

Eugene

’s very on-brand special place for friends of his sister to get legal advice that you didn’t pay for;)

Post #2 here, and I thought it fitting to go back to my original inspiration. I recently read this book: The Creative Act, by Rick Rubin, legendary music producer and co-founder of Def Jam Records, given to me by dear friends,

ALC

and

Rob

, who have nudged me to get out there and share my voice over the past few months. Rob had grander visions of a TED talk or a NYC best selling book, but here we are, writing in a glorified personal diary he inspired when he told me with a sigh, “by all means Eurie, write in a journal if that’s what you want to do” :) Baby steps, Rob.

Anyhow, back to The Creative Act: The book reads more like philosophy than anything particularly artistic, but what stands out is Rick’s perspective that everyone is a creator. Creativity is a way of being in the world, a way of noticing things and allowing things to impact you.

“What you make doesn’t have to be witnessed, recorded, sold, or encased in glass for it to be a work of art. Through the ordinary state of being, we are already creators in the most profound way, creating our experience of reality and composing the world we perceive.”’

Rick has produced records with some of the most generation defining artists: Beastie Boys, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Johnny Cash, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Adele, Lady Gaga, the list goes on. So of course he must know a thing or two about spotting and cultivating artistic genius right? Right. Well, the guru says, “creativity is just free play with no rules. We’re not playing to win, we’re playing to play. And ultimately, playing is fun. Perfection gets in the way of fun. A more skillful goal might be to find comfort in the process.”

Creativity = FUN. That’s what I see in Izzy (now almost 8 years old), when she draws. She isn’t focused on whether it’s going to become some award winning masterpiece… she’s just drawing FOR FUN.

What do you do for fun? What do you do that has no required outcome attached to it? What brings you joy even if you are terrible at it?

I have underlined basically every paragraph in this darn book, so I won’t bother going on with my key takeaways - just read the book, it’s really good. It lets us all lower the bar for what “creation” needs to be/mean - we all create every day whether it’s coffee in the morning, a meal for our families, an email to a client, a strategic plan for a company, a lesson for a class, a new way of thinking for a friend.

I’d love to know - what is something creative you did today? Please share for inspiration!