0. Last Saved Checkpoint.

That’s a quote from Rick Rubin’s book, ‘The Creative Act.’

(Note: every quote in this letter not directly attributed to an author is from Rubin via ‘The Creative Act’).

[watch this letter on YouTube]. 

This book is the bible on artist development.

It teaches us it’s less about content strategies and more about health self-expression.

The marketing vehicles will always be here.

The key is learning to express something the market will actually resonate with on a deep level.

(If market impression is one of your goals - because, as Rubin tells us, it doesn’t have to be).

But whether the market is a consideration, your art is always best served by the expression of your deepest and most authentic truth.

And that’s what Rubin talks all about in this book.

Chapter 1: Defining the creative act.

First, I need to set the record straight with you; or else we’re doomed from the start.

Imposter syndrome might be the human condition.

It’s the feeling that making art is for other people.

The feeling that it’s stupid when you do it, but valuable if Morgan Wallen, YSL, or Mercedes do it.

I get why the Thread post we talked about a few days ago really rubbed people the wrong way.

It was insensitive for me to expect people to infer that I make distinctions between types of art.

In that case, it was a distinction between “natural art” and “art commerce.”

The expression of art vs. the commercialization of it.

And even though I developed that distinction from what Rick Rubin teaches in this book, he also makes it clear in the text that,“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’re already creators in the most profound way, creating our experience of reality and composing the world we perceive.”

Being an artist is your birthright, creating is your nature.

It’s not something you have to ask permission for.

Something helpful for becoming more secure in your creative birth right is getting around more artists and creatively attuned people.

I’ve got a couple of free options if you’re interested.

1. My discord (Forums, Community on all kinds of topics, and Self-promo). 

2. My Survey - I’m working on some really Dope stuff for underground artists, engineers, and producers, so please answer this one-question-survey about the ONE THING you feel you need to know or have to further your development. 

Btw - check out The Centerfold Drum Kit v5 🔥.

 Chapter 2: “learning to walk.”

In the text, Rubin also often suggests that being around certain people or in specific environments can improve or negate your ability to create.

BUT…

That’s not the first thing he mentions doing in the book.

Rubin often uses the water cycle as an analogy for creative flow.

The first time he does so in the text is as a rhetorical question he asks the reader;

“How does the cloud know when to rain? How does the tree know when spring begins? How does the bird know when it’s time to build a new nest?”

He then gives you the answer 👇

“The universe functions like a clock: These rhythms are not set by us. We are all participating in a larger creative act we are not conducting. We are being conducted. The artist is on a cosmic timetable, just like all of nature.”

And uses Solomons poem from Ecclesiastes to bolster his point, which I think is pretty cool👇

🔑 You’re already creating and manifesting on autopilot; it’s time to become conscious of this on EVERY LEVEL of your life (and not just art):

• Relationships,

• Emotional & mental state,

• Finance,

• Lifestyle,

• Work & Career,

• Fitness (health & wellness),

How do you tune in to the creative signal?

Stop looking for it.

“How do we pick up on a signal that can neither be heard nor be 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.“

The reward for taking this seriously 👇

Your innocence.

So much of media these days is about making you feel bad for scrolling on TikTok or eating some wing stop.

Those are superficial examples, but the point is they want to feel bad for your normal human desire to experience everything around you.

Comparison, judgement, and self-loathing are threads woven into the cloth that blindfold our eyes from creativity.

So maybe we shouldn’t do that..?

Chapter 3: Raindrop, meet “Ocean.”

That’s a nice sentiment, but where do we look for creativity once the blindfold is gone?

Another cloud/water cycle analogy from Rubin gives us the solution (don’t change what works):

“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.“

It’s all around us; it’s everything.

Not the raindrop, but the oceans, rivers, and all the vapor that is not the raindrop.

“This content does not come from inside us. The Source is out there. A wisdom surrounding us, an inexhaustible offering that is always available.”

Remove your “raindrop filter” and experience it.

What are you averse to?

What are your biggest biases?

What things annoy you the most?

What are you most scare to explore?

Experience these things.

“We are most like the things and people we [think we] hate the most.” - Neil Strauss.

Opening yourself up to life and exploring the unknown is literally how you gain access to the infinite source of creativity, imagination, and intelligence.

Fin. Fast Travel To Next Destination.

We discussed earlier that connecting with other artists is a good way to build your sense of security.

But what if I told you this was also the best way to grow? 🤔

If you want to learn how that’s possible, watch this video.