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“To Rubin, art is the ultimate form of self-actualization, a noble calling that enriches the soul . . . So, how does an artist move from conception to creation? Rubin methodically lays out the process, offering a mixture of encouragement, inspiration and tips . . . Rubin has written a fascinating book infused with deep thoughts, insight and, yes, lots and lots of creativity.” ―Los Angeles Times

“A beautiful rumination on the creative process. Guiding readers through '78 areas of thought,' Rubin shares his outlook on creativity, which in turn reflects the way in which he views the world . . . The book does a remarkable job of explaining these deep, philosophical ideas in a way that’s easy to understand.” ―Complex

“A work of transcendent literature, one that suggests the universe still smiles upon us despite all indications to the contrary.” ―The Wall Street Journal

“The legendary producer of artists from Adele to Black Sabbath, Johnny Cash to Jay-Z, distills the insights of a glittering career to reveal how to get the best out of musicians―and offers useful lessons for the rest of us in the process.” ―Financial Times

“A distillation of the wisdom Rubin has accrued over decades of bringing records to fruition...[To] creatives in need of a spur ？ or anyone in proximity to a client, or loved one, approaching a deadline ？ The Creative Act has just the right level of confident loftiness to provide succour and useful ways of recontextualising problems.” ―The Guardian

“An existential enquiry into the nature of creativity, art and being part of the human race . . . a deep look at the most fundamental of human impulses.” ―Big Issue

“Rick Rubin is the definition of a creative genius and he has put his wisdom in one place and it is possibly the most inspiring book on creativity I have ever read. The Creative Act is up there with Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird and Stephen King's On Writing . . . The advice in here is brilliant . . . For those wanting to feel some new life and confidence in their creative bones, this book is a godsend.” ―Matt Haig

“A gorgeous, delicious and wildly practical interrogation of the creative process. A master of his craft, Rubin supplies rich insights, sound advice, helpful suggestions and supreme comfort to anyone living to create, or endeavoring to live creatively.” ―JJ Abrams

“I am reading Rick’s book and truly loving it. I want my kids to read it, want everyone to read it. It is a manual for creativity and creative thinking. A reference book for now and will continue to be of service in the future.”―Mike D

“In this extraordinary book, Rick beautifully captures the sacred but commonplace practice of creating. I find it so powerful when someone gives voice or form to what we know but perhaps don’t understand. Designers from any discipline will find Rick's words profoundly encouraging and inspiring.” ―Jony Ive

“This is a gorgeous and inspiring work of art on creation, creativity, the work of the artist. It will gladden the hearts of writers and artists everywhere, and get them working again with a new sense of meaning and direction. A stunning accomplishment.” ―Anne Lamott

“Rick Rubin created genres. He is like Oppenheimer; a destroyer and creator of worlds, a true genius. Read this fantastic book The Creative Act: A Way of Being.” ―Russell Brand

“You'll probably read this extraordinary book four times. The first time, you'll gobble it up. The second time, you'll savour it. The third time, you'll take notes in the margins. But the fourth time, the fourth time it will be part of you as you create the work you were ready to ship.” ―Seth Godin

“Enlightening . . . You can imagine Rubin in the studio gently reassuring an artist of all the insight he shares here.” ―Pigeons & Planes

“This book is a companion to anyone on the creative path; for me, Rick Rubin's attention, consideration, ideas have dug themselves down deep into my consciousness and grown with my work, so that over time, I have found myself in the shelter of a huge resplendent tree, and remembered that it all started with a word or two from a person who really, really listened. May it start something similar in you.”―Kae Tempest

“What makes Rick Rubin’s The Creative Act: A Way of Being great (and it IS great) is not so much the content (though that is extraordinary for sure) as Rick’s own personality and his essence as a man and an artist. What I would call the Muse, Rick calls Source. Source in Rick’s view is infinite and constant, a nonstop, 24/7/365 trade wind of ideas and inspiration that flow through all of us―not just artists, not just 'creative' types. Rick’s whole life and philosophy are about opening himself and others (from the Beastie Boys to Run-D.M.C. to LL Cool J to Metallica and a thousand more) to that cosmic radio station. The Creative Act comes from the pure dojo of Rick Rubin’s heart. A lot of the book is technical, there’s tons of practical wisdom and nuts-and-bolts throughout, but the essence of the work is love―a belief in Source, of that which cannot be known or defined but that we live our lives by, and most importantly, a tremendous respect and honor toward all artists and toward the process and the mystery itself.” ―Steven Pressfield, author of The War of Art

Everyone Is a Creator

Those who do not engage in the traditional arts might be wary of calling themselves artists. They might perceive creativity as something extraordinary or beyond their capabilities. A calling for the special few who are born with these gifts.

Fortunately, this is not the case.

Creativity is not a rare ability. It is not difficult to access. Creativity is a fundamental aspect of being human. It's our birthright. And it's for all of us.

Creativity doesn't exclusively relate to making art. We all engage in this act on a daily basis.

To create is to bring something into existence that wasn't there before. It could be a conversation, the solution to a problem, a note to a friend, the rearrangement of furniture in a room, a new route home to avoid a traffic jam.

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.

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.


To live as an artist is a way of being in the world. A way of perceiving. A practice of paying attention. Refining our sensitivity to tune in to the more subtle notes. Looking for what draws us in and what pushes us away. Noticing what feeling tones arise and where they lead.

Attuned choice by attuned choice, your entire life is a form of self-expression. You exist as a creative being in a creative universe. A singular work of art.

Tuning In

Think of the universe as an eternal creative unfolding.

Trees blossom.

Cells replicate.

Rivers forge new tributaries.

The world pulses with productive energy, and everything that exists on this planet is driven by that energy.

Every manifestation of this unfolding is doing its own work on behalf of the universe, each in its own way, true to its own creative impulse.

Just as trees grow flowers and fruits, humanity creates works of art. The Golden Gate Bridge, the White Album, Guernica, Hagia Sophia, the Sphinx, the space shuttle, the Autobahn, "Clair de lune," "Respect," the Roman Colosseum, the Phillips screwdriver, the iPad, Philadelphia cheesesteak.

Look around you: there are so many remarkable accomplishments to appreciate. Each of these is humanity being true to itself, as a hummingbird is true to itself by building a nest, a peach tree by bearing fruit, and a nimbus cloud by producing rain.

Every nest, every peach, every raindrop, and every great work is different. Some trees may appear to make more beautiful fruits than others, and some humans may appear to compose greater works than others. The taste and beauty are in the eye of the beholder.

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?

The universe functions like a clock:

To everything-

There is a season-

And a time to every purpose under heaven

A time to be born, a time to die

A time to plant, a time to reap

A time to kill, a time to heal

A time to laugh, a time to weep

A time to build up, a time to break down

A time to dance, a time to mourn

A time to cast away stones

A time to gather stones together

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.

If you have an idea you're excited about and you don't bring it to life, it's not uncommon for the idea to find its voice through another maker. This isn't because the other artist stole your idea, but because the idea's time has come.

In this great unfolding, ideas and thoughts, themes and songs and other works of art exist in the ether and ripen on schedule, ready to find expression in the physical world.

As artists, it is our job to draw down this information, transmute it, and share it. We are all translators for messages the universe is broadcasting. The best artists tend to be the ones with the most sensitive antennae to draw in the energy resonating at a particular moment. Many great artists first develop sensitive antennae not to create art but to protect themselves. They have to protect themselves because everything hurts more. They feel everything more deeply.




Often art arrives in movements. Bauhaus architecture, abstract expressionism, French New Wave cinema, punk rock, Beat poetry to name a few from recent history. These movements appear like a wave; some artists are able to read the culture and position themselves to ride that swell. Others might see the wave and choose to swim against the current.

We are all antennae for creative thought. Some transmissions come on strong, others are more faint. If your antenna isn't sensitively tuned, you're likely to lose the data in the noise. Particularly since the signals coming through are often more subtle than the content we collect through sensory awareness. They are energetic more than tactile, intuitively perceived more than consciously recorded.

Most of the time, we are gathering data from the world through the five senses. With the information that's being transmitted on higher frequencies, we are channeling energetic material that can't be physically grasped. It defies logic, in the same way that an electron can be in two places at once. This elusive energy is of great worth, though so few people are open enough to hold 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.

This freedom is not as difficult to achieve as one might think. We all start with it. As children, we experience much less interference between receiving ideas and internalizing them. We accept new information with delight instead of making comparisons to what we already believe; we live in the moment rather than worrying about future consequences; we are spontaneous more than analytical; we are curious, not jaded. Even the most ordinary experiences in life are met with a sense of awe. Deep sadness and intense excitement can come within moments of each other. There's no facade and no attachment to a story.

Artists who are able to continually create great works throughout their lives often manage to preserve these childlike qualities. Practicing a way of being that allows you to see the world through uncorrupted, innocent eyes can free you to act in concert with the universe's timetable.

There's a time for certain ideas to arrive,

and they find a way

to express themselves through us.

The Source of Creativity






We begin with everything:

everything seen,

everything done,

everything thought,

everything felt,

everything imagined,

everything forgotten,

and everything that rests unspoken and unthought
within us.

This is our source material, and from it, we build each creative moment.

This content does not come from inside us. The Source is out there. A

The #1 New York Times bestseller.

From the legendary music producer, a master at helping people connect with the wellsprings of their creativity, comes a beautifully crafted book many years in the making that offers that same deep wisdom to all of us.

"A gorgeous and inspiring work of art on creation, creativity, the work of the artist. It will gladden the hearts of writers and artists everywhere, and get them working again with a new sense of meaning and direction. A stunning accomplishment.” ―Anne Lamott

“I set out to write a book about what to do to make a great work of art. Instead, it revealed itself to be a book on how to be.” ―Rick Rubin

Many famed music producers are known for a particular sound that has its day. Rick Rubin is known for something else: creating a space where artists of all different genres and traditions can home in on who they really are and what they really offer. He has made a practice of helping people transcend their self-imposed expectations in order to reconnect with a state of innocence from which the surprising becomes inevitable. Over the years, as he has thought deeply about where creativity comes from and where it doesn’t, he has learned that being an artist isn’t about your specific output, it’s about your relationship to the world. Creativity has a place in everyone’s life, and everyone can make that place larger. In fact, there are few more important responsibilities.

The Creative Act is a beautiful and generous course of study that illuminates the path of the artist as a road we all can follow. It distills the wisdom gleaned from a lifetime’s work into a luminous reading experience that puts the power to create moments―and lifetimes―of exhilaration and transcendence within closer reach for all of us.