Rick Rubin on the Creative Process: 10 Quotes

Rick Rubin, the music producer, has worked with artists ranging from Johnny Cash and the Red Hot Chili Peppers to Adele. He recently wrote a book called “The Creative Act: A Way of Being” that aligns nicely with Blue Flower thinking.

Like Novalis’s Blue Flower (that emblem of wonder and the yearning for something just out of reach) Rubin sees art not as product but as process — as something that comes from listening inward. Intuition over intellect.

The wisdom of Doris Tortoise

Here are 10 quotes —both practical and philosophical — that make the point:

(They come mostly from his book, but also some from episodes on Broken Record and The Tim Ferriss Show.)

1. “The goal is to get the art to a place where it lives and breathes on its own.”

Takeaway: You're not here to control the work. You're here to listen to it. Shape it just enough that you feel it has a life of its own.

2. “Art is a circulation of energy. It’s not about you.”

Takeaway: Let go of ego. It’s not a personal flex. Art is about tuning into something beyond you. Think of yourself less like an architect and more like an antenna.

3. “You don’t need to be better than anyone else. You just need to be fully yourself.”

Takeaway: Don’t try to be “different.” Be honest. The fastest way to make something that sounds like everyone else is to try to impress.

4. “We tend to think the artist’s job is to create. I believe we’re conduits for creativity.”

Takeaway: Your job isn't to "come up with" something. It’s to receive something. Reduce the noise (both internally and externally) until you can hear the whisper of what wants to be made.

5. “Don’t chase perfection. Chase expression.”

Takeaway: Polishing something to death is easy (and hard to resist). But the rawness might be where the life is. Focus on what you're really trying to say, not how cleanly you can say it.

6. “Rules direct us to average behaviors.”

Takeaway: Every ‘best practice’ in the world exists to make things predictable. But the memorable stuff? That breaks the rules.

7. “Sometimes the mistake is the hook.”

Takeaway: Don’t edit too fast. The weird part might be the best part. Let it sit for a minute before you make changes.

8. “Make things you love. Everything else is guessing.”

Takeaway: Don’t try to reverse-engineer what people want. That’s chasing a moving target.

9. “You don’t need the world to get it. You need to get it.”

Takeaway: Art isn’t a committee project. Stop trying to explain or justify. If it feels right to you, trust it.

10. “It’s not about making something. It’s about being something.”

Takeaway: The creative process isn’t a task, it’s a state. The more you’re aligned—mentally, emotionally, spiritually—the better the work. Focus less on output and more on presence.

Final Observation

I want to dig into this last quote a little more since it gets to the heart of what Blue Flower Power and Sparkle Valley is about. Rubin isn’t talking about art as a product. He’s saying it’s a mode of being—an open, “tuned in” state where creation isn’t forced, it’s allowed. That’s the essence of Sparkle Valley, of the Romantic tradition, of the whole idea behind the Blue Flower. You don’t chase it. You become the kind of person it wants to visit.

In Sparkle Valley, characters like Abigail don’t create magic by forcing things or following rules. They are magic because they’re open, imaginative, kind, brave. This is Rubin’s point: the spark isn’t in the effort. It’s in the state of being.

Abigail, Ivana & Boris Tortoise in the Academy of Muses

And this isn’t some kind of “woo-woo” mystical riddle. Rubin’s not naive. He understands that art requires hard work — and balance, But the deeper challenge is learning to listen. To be, as Rubin says,

a “conduit for creativity.”  You can’t strong-arm wonder. You have to invite it. You have to create the conditions where it wants to show up.

In other words, you have to be like Abigail – curious, fearless. She doesn’t sit around strategizing how to be creative. She just is, because she’s not blocking the signal. She’s not performing. She’s playing. She’s following her heart.

That’s the key. You don’t make Sparkle Valley by trying to make Sparkle Valley. It’s not about building a new world—it’s remembering how to be in one.

To see with wonder again.

To live with curiosity.

And to believe (even just a little) in the possibility of forgotten valleys waiting to be found.