The other day I read this interview with Rick Rubin, the music producer.
They asked him why artists have this need to control everything about their work when getting creative. Rick Rubin disagrees with all that. You don’t control nuthin’. The work’s gonna do what it wants.
Here’s part of what he said:
I may have an idea of a thing I want to make. And then I start making it, and I realize there’s some other thing that it’s trying to be. This other thing that it’s trying to be is actually better than the thing that I wanted to make. Now, if I’m tightly set on the idea of, “I’m the creator, and I’m making this thing,” I’ll miss this bigger opportunity to make the better thing.
If you’ve read Squat Every Day recently, you might feel the echo of these words. I like the way he’s thinking, it should go without saying. Accept and allow, don’t control by force. Anybody lifting weights, or doing anything else to improve your physical health and physique, will find a lot of chewy wisdom in that quote.
But there’s a nasty trap-door with spikes at the bottom, too, if you don’t watch your step. It’s one of the mistakes that I made in the book.
The balancing act between control and creativity is just one of the things I’ll talk about in the webinar that I’m putting on for the book’s 10-year anniversary.
If you’re interested in that, you’ll need to be on my email list.
If you’ve already jumped on the list, maybe you can let a friend know if they might be interested. Even if they don’t get in on this round, I’ll be doing more of these in the future with deep dives into different topics.
Here’s the link:
Matt Perryman
p.s. Have a good Independence Day over this 4th of July weekend, if you’re in the US. If you’re not, celebrate it anyway. You have my permission.