Subtitled: A Way Of Being
“The Creative Act” has been on the bestseller list since it came out last year and for good reason. This is such an inspiring collection of insights into creativity, awareness, innovation, craft, connections and so much more. As the author mentions, he set out to write about how to be creative and ended up writing about how to be.
He makes it clear that we are all artists in our own way, creating our own works – whether it’s a traditional piece of art, a family life, an experience – we all create. So while he uses the term “artist” throughout the book, he encourages us to apply that term to ourselves, even if we don’t create using typical artistic tools. Here’s a passage from the first chapter which highlights 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.”
Right away, here on page 2, we’re immersed in this beautiful, philosophical and even spiritual approach to creativity. That’s just an inkling of what’s to come. Rubin gets even more philosophical and spiritual – so if you enjoy exploring the woo-woo side of creativity – and of life – then this book will be an excellent guide.
And I love how he helps us digest these big ideas by offering them in bite-sized nuggets. Each chapter is just a few pages, yet they build on each other so that as the reader moves along, there’s a process unfolding for how to unlock creativity and our connection to The Universe.
The book could even be a daily devotional – each of those bite-sized chapters could be a daily reading. Each one is almost like a short essay, exploring an idea, thought or recommendation succinctly, while giving the reader quite a bit to contemplate.
So if you or someone close to you loves to explore living with a heighten sense of creativity, I absolutely recommend “The Creative Act: a way of being.”
And once you read it, let me know what your top takeaways are!
