“This too will pass.”
Most people say that when hard times hit.
During significant loss.
Tough time in your career.
While going through health scares.
The reality is that it applies at all moments.
When you’re having fun.
At the moment you meet your dream partner.
Once you write your critically acclaimed novel.
When you sell your business and become stinky rich.
While you’re old, relaxing across the calm waves of splashing blue water, sifting through fine sand.
This too will pass.
Everything is in transition.
Every moment presents an opportunity for change.
Creativity is just your active participation in the constant transformation of life.
Last year, I was given this book, The Creative Act: A Way of Being, as a Christmas gift (Thanks, Bailey).
The author, Rick Rubin is a music legend. Behind his long beard, is the man that helped propel so many musical hits and personas – Run-DMC, the Beastie Boys, LL Cool L, Jay-Z, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Johnny Cash, Adele. The list goes on.
He shared his perspective from close to 50 years of channeling creativity.
Here are 10 quotes from the book that can help you foster a creative life so you can participate in the transforming world and shape it to live a more engaging and meaningful life.
“Deciding what to say in advance doesn’t allow whatever’s best to come…Art is more powerful than your plans.”
“What are you writing about this week?” I’ve been asked that before.
I usually don’t know until I start writing. The story takes form in the process. I didn’t know what my first book was about until I finished the first draft. Sometimes we want to have a full plan before we venture out.
Your actions are more important than your plans. Get started.
“If we like what we are creating, we don’t have to know why”
As long as you enjoy what you’re doing, the mission is done.
I’m not preaching the “do what you love” mantra. I’m more a part of the “love what you do” camp. But that love and joy has to be intentional and nurtured. It’s the second mode of being that’s always there when enthusiasm isn’t available.
Once you can get into the flow of whatever craft you choose, the end product becomes a by-product.
The process of being becomes the ultimate goal.
“You work not as an evangelist, expecting miracles, but as a scientist, testing and adjusting and testing again. Experimenting and building on results. Faith is rewarded, perhaps even more than talent or ability.”
“Clarity + Agency + Faith” is actually the new intelligence.
The more I practice writing and building a business, the more I realize you need faith. Wallahi.
The reason most of us get demotivated is we don’t know whether what we’re doing is worthwhile. The reality is that you never know. You choose to make it worthwhile. This requires faith – that there would be some benefit in the outcome. If you think like a scientist, as long as you learn from your experiments, then it is always worthwhile.
Do more experiments. Build more faith in your life.
“The only practice that matters is the one you consistently do, not the practice of any other artist.”
This reminds me of coming out of the pandemic.
My business’ revenue was flat on the floor like an Ikea rug. I had one mentor telling me “try your hand at multiple businesses.” I had another mentor saying “go all in on your one business.”
Neither was wrong.
A friend asked, “Who has the better advice?” I said, “I don’t know, I guess I’ll have to find out.” It’s good to seek counsel and learn from others, particularly mistakes to avoid.
But you have to choose what works for you.
Find your own way.
“Art is an act of decoding. We receive intelligence from Source, and interpret it through the language of our chosen craft.”
Sometimes we take ourselves too seriously.
We want to be so original. We end up never starting. Whatever you create is just a translation. You are a vessel that transforms one thing into another. That translation can come in the form of words, products, service, acts.
Build your translation muscle.
“To hone your craft is to honor creation. It doesn’t matter if you become the best in your field. By practicing to improve, you are fulfilling your ultimate purpose on this planet.”
This one speaks for itself.
Most people never start because their skill-taste gap is too high. They have a high taste but when they attempt, they don’t have the skill to bring that taste to life. They write one page then shy away because it’s not as good as Chinua Achebe.
Let’s pause here: No one writes like Chinua Achebe.
Instead of stopping, do the opposite. Practice until your skill matches your taste. Something interesting happens though. As your skill increases, so does your taste. It never catches up. You level up your taste and appreciate it a lot more.
Keep practicing.
“While the artist’s goal is greatness, it’s also to move forward. In service of the next project, we finish the current one…Sharing art is the price of making it.”
Once you release your work into the world, it’s no longer yours.
You might have your name on it but people have their interpretation of what it is. I’ve met so many aspiring writers that say, “I have so many books in me, I don’t know which to write.”
I always reply, “Just write the first one.”
It might sound unhelpful but it’s true. Because as you write the first one, there might be two other books in there. You can then choose to quickly finish the first, so you can move on to the next.
The goal of creativity is to move forward. Make, share, go make again. Don’t get stuck.
“If you’re looking for the work to support you, you may be asking too much of it…Success is harder to come by when your life depends on it.”
In Nigeria, parents would revolt at their kid, “You want to become an artist ke? God help us o. Did I hear you clearly? You said artist abi? Jeeesu..”
They knew something the trendy kids didn’t know. Pursuing art is not the most stable career path. If you want the art to support your entire career, be ready to walk that fine line, where your art has to compromise to meet financial needs.
I’ve written four books, trust me, they hardly make a dent in paying the bills.
I nod in modesty when I hear people talking about their one book that they’d eventually write so they can retire. I love dreams too.
It’s better for you to be in service of the art and not for the art to be in service of you and your financial needs. That’s why I choose the VCH model that allows me to separate my vocation from my craft for now.
The art in its purest form starts when you are in service of it.
“The editor is the professional in the poet.”
When I edit, I’m in a different mode from when I write.
I heard Tyler the Creator describe it this way: “Draft like a child. Edit like a scientist.” The editor is not a critic who zooms in and picks apart your work. The editor is the ego-free, detached observer who zooms out and sees the holistic picture, seeking balance.
If I didn’t edit this letter it would be 40% longer.
The greatest artists are the ones that can switch from free-flowing creation into cold and detached editing mode, revealing their true taste.
Become a pro.
““Making the simple complicated is commonplace,” Charles Mingus once said. “Making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity.””
The best art is expressed in its most simple form.
Anything extra is unnecessary.
Anything less is insufficient.
I believe everyone is an artist and your story is your art, your contribution to the transformative world.
It’s expressed in your books, songs, excel files, products, love to your family, public service to the community. I hope you keep practicing your art because this moment too will pass.
Yours truly,
Nifemi
