Rick Rubin and All of Life Is the Writing Life

I’m re-reading Rick Rubin’s book The Creative Act.

Here are some words from the very first chapter that are in alignment with the ideas connected to All of Life Is the Writing Life. Especially that last sentence that I put in bold:

In each moment, we are immersed in a field of undifferentiated matter from which our senses gather bits of information. The outside universe we perceive doesn’t exist as such. Through a series of electrical and chemical reactions, we generate a reality internally. We create forests and oceans, warmth and cold. We read words, hear voices, and form interpretations. Then, in an instant, we produce a response. All of this in a world of our own creation.

Regardless of whether or not we’re formally making art, we are all living as artists. We perceive, filter, and collect data, then curate an experience for ourselves and others based on this information set. Whether we do this consciously or unconsciously, by the mere fact of being alive, we are active participants in the ongoing process of creation.

I like these good words from Rubin, too. They are from the end of the “Practice” chapter.

Living life as an artist is a practice.
You are either engaging in the practice
or you’re not.

It makes no sense to say you’re not good at it.
It’s like saying, “I’m not good at being a monk.”
You are either living as a monk or you’re not.

We tend to think of the artist’s work as the output.

The real work of the artist
is a way of being in the world.

The theme in this quote reminds me of my All of Life Is the Writing Life™ origin story—how, after my dad died and I was deep in grief, I needed everything, every experience, everything I do and see and hear and receive and witness and encounter when I’m not writing—to be part of the creative process and to matter to the writing I would do when I’d eventually write.

Either everything matters or it doesn’t. You are either living as an artist or you aren’t.

And one more for now. These words are from the chapter called “Nothing Is Static”

The person who makes something today
isn’t the same person
who returns to the work tomorrow.

I love how this speaks to the truth that we are always being formed to do the work we are going to do, make the art we are going to make, write the words we are going to write.

So many good words from Rick Rubin. So many good reminders.