Rick Rubin believes that creativity is less about generating novel ideas on demand and more about being in a way that allows ideas to surface — it’s a way of being rather than doing. He emphasizes the value of uncertainty-and-not-knowing, of trusting feelings and the “unknown field” from which inspiration emerges. He sees the artist’s role as opening a channel, living an uncluttered life (so the creative signal can come through), listening deeply, and then offering something of the self, rather than simply applying a formula.
