“HOW TO CREATE ART AND STAND OUT” plastered across a YouTube thumbnail image. Adjacent to these words sat the decorated and influential music producer, Rick Rubin, smiling gleefully.
In the video, Jay Shetty, a motivational force in his own right, interviews Rubin, who wisely reflects his wisdom on questions about living authentically and honoring life as a creative being. What follows is a summary of my essential takeaway: deep self-introspection is necessary for timeless artistry, and even more important for a fulfilled existence.
Rick urges intentionally creative beings to endeavor to know themselves, fully. The command, “Know thyself,” has historically been traced back to ancient Greece. Thought to have been first inscribed at The Temple of Apollo, the phrase implores us all to discover what we think and feel to live a more authentic existence.
The only way to do this is to spend time acquainting ourselves with our inner world. Rick encourages us to pause and ask ourselves what we are feeling and seeing in our experiences, and to be introspective. He isn’t the first to suggest that we reorient ourselves inward. His unique artistic past and experiences color and inform his words, however, and this gives them a newness.
Knowing ourselves fully means knowing our ‘why,” as an author, speaker and self-proclaimed optimist, Simon Sinek, might suggest. We should work to become aware of the motivations for our actions and the reasons for our beliefs. Why do we choose to react or not react, advance or stay, play or refrain?
Rubin tells us not to sell ourselves short as artists or to play small. He encourages us to be original and to live for the process, not the outcome. However, to faithfully honor his wisdom requires a heightened degree of self-awareness, perhaps even an uncommon degree. As an artist, I’ve struggled with the age-old dichotomy between earning money and creating timeless art. I’ve even contemplated placing the former over the latter.
When I’d focus more on money, the process of creation would lose its appeal. I’d have no desire to push forward and would begin to feel a low-level anxiety that would turn into depression if I continued against my intuition. Eventually, I’d be forced to slow down and ask, ‘Why?’ Each time this happened, I’d learn a new lesson that reminded me to remain on the path of inner sincerity. As Rubin mentioned, the greatest artists are secure in themselves regardless of what happens in their external environment.
Rubin’s ultimate message is that if we wish to attain more meaningful human experiences, whether they be in our relationships or our areas of labor, we need to engage in deep self-reflection to see this happen. The results are not immediate, and they shouldn’t be. Time is required to investigate our unchallenged ideas and shadow selves. We can rest soundly, however, in knowing that the process of self-introspection begins yielding positive benefits for our lives almost the moment we begin.
