My favourite quotes from The Creative Act: A Way of Being
Some of the passages I bookmarked from Rick Rubin's book -- each paired with its matching Tarot card.
After hearing about it first on an episode of the now defunct (sigh) podcast Art Juice, I finally decided, a few months ago, to read Rick Rubin’s1 book about creativity: The Creative Act: A Way of Being.
Given that the book has been out since 2023, I can assure you that if you’re looking for a review, you can find plenty online, be it in the form of podcasts, or as articles. You don’t need one more from me.
What I’m going to do instead is share with you some of my favourite quotes and pair them up with the Tarot card2 that they remind me of the most. Here we go!
With each story we tell ourselves, we negate possibility. […] As artists, we’re called to let go of these stories, again and again, and blindly put our faith in the curious energy drawing us down the path.
One year ago, this quote would have passed me by unnoticed. Now, however, as I’m in the midst of my first unemployment stretch, it has definitely caught my attention. And, given that I am making the conscious decisions of exploring possibilities other than just jumping straight away back into the hamster wheel of meaningless jobs, this sentence has felt like a nod of recognition from a fellow traveller on my same path.
Obviously, the matching Tarot card here is none other than The Fool!
When it comes to the creative process, patience is accepting that the majority of the work we do is out of our control. We can’t force greatness to happen. All we can do is await it actively. Not anxiously, as it might scare it off. Simply in a state of continual welcoming.
Rubin says somewhere else in the book, that all you can do is work on your creation — everything else, i.e. the reception, is completely outside of your control, and therefore (I add) you must derive your satisfaction from the creation process, and be indifferent to the rest. I love this quote because we can apply to lots of different areas in our lives, don’t you think? From job interviews, to creating a painting, to looking for a partner, etc. In all of these scenarios: a) you really cannot control the outcome, b) the outcome itself doesn’t really say much about you, and c) the anxiety (aka the scarcity mindset) can be smelled from miles away.
The Tarot card? The Eight of Coins: practice first, always. Everything else, *if* it comes, comes later (and matters less).
The works we do are at most chapters. There will always be a new chapter, and another after that.
Preach! We are creature of habits. The minute we get used to something — our apartment, our job, our tightly-knit friends’ circle — we cannot imagine our life without it. And, when a change happens (because guess what, life is nothing BUT changes), we feel like it’s the end of the world. Everything seems to matter so much. And yet: when you think about that breakup that upset you 5 years ago, I bet you don’t feel even one bit as upset, right? This quote reminds me that Paris is a moveable feast, and we don’t need to feel so precious about absolutely every little thing.
The Five of Cups is us being dramatic when we lose something and can’t see the abundance around us.
Whatever you choose, it’s helpful to have fellow travelers around you.
We all know it’s not easy to make friends as adults. However, especially when you’re setting out to do something that none of your current friends are doing, it is crucial that you work towards finding people that are working towards, or achieving, the goals you are aiming at, too. Your old friends are invaluable, but you’ll be surprised how much your mindset will expand by meeting ones that are on a similar trajectory as you.
The card? Perhaps the Three of Coins: mentors are everywhere, for those who have eyes to see them.
Success is harder to come by when your life depends on it.
Finally, I’d like to leave you with this quote. I’m not sure what kind of promotional tour Ed Sheeran is on, but for some reason I’ve found myself listening to at least three interviews of him just recently, and in all of them, he underlined how he only ever had Plan A, because when you have Plan B, you’re bound to default to it.
Don’t get me wrong, I think he has a point. That said, it’s one thing to not have a Plan B when you’re a teenager (like he was when he started out), vs. when you’re in your 30s (and perhaps, God forbid that you have kids or spouses depending on you). I was maybe expecting Rick Rubin to go all in, in the “you must dedicate your life to art (or your dream) entirely” spiel, but instead I was surprised by the matter-of-factness of “yeah, kinda hard to produce mindblowing stuff when you cannot make rent”.
So, if you’re finding yourself having to have a main job to pay for your life passion, or to side-hustle as you try to make your passion your main hustle, you do you! Rick Rubin gives you a forehead kiss and sends you on your merry way.
Such a practical mindset requires a real balancing act: the Two of Coins.
Funnily enough: for such a creative topic, 3 out of 5 cards I picked are Coins. That’s probably because Coins are the cards of work and practice, and in the end, there can be no consistent art without a solid art practice behind it.
Cheers!
Angelica / Maeveryn
For those of you who may not know him: Rubin is a music producer who’s worked with many artists in the last few decades (Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nine Inch Nails, Johnny Cash, Slayer, Run DMC, to name a few), and who’s (arguably) known and appreciated for coming up with surprising combinations which often revived stagnant careers. For example, the collaboration between Aerosmith and Run DMC for Walk This Way, Nine Inch Nail’s song Hurt sung by Johnny Cash, etc.
All the cards are from the Fyodor Pavlov Tarot deck, which forever has my heart.
Angelica, when are you creating your own tarot deck? 🙂
I enjoyed this post very much! Covers the topics i love the most! Thanks angelica! 🫶🏾