Welcome to Litsy!

Returning to work after the holidays is a total bummer, but a thoughtful gift from a colleague was an unexpected bright spot! I'm very much looking forward to this one.

I felt like I was sitting in a cabin listening to Rubin‘s musings first hand. I admittedly enjoyed the first half more, but the entire book was a fun guide to exercising your creativity, even if you don‘t consider yourself to be an artist.

This compassionate and welcoming collection of advice on creativity and the creative process is the work of music producer Rick Rubin. I struggled to stay focused listening to the audiobook because it is so meditative rather than narrative, and for that reason I feel I got more out of Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert but this would be an inspiring read for anyone interested in a more fulfilling creative life.

Got my copy from the local indie today, @jen_the_scribe ! I'm encouraged by the fact that it has what looks like 14pt font...turning more pages per tiny chunk of reading time might help me feel more like I'm making progress.

Happy #independentbookstoreday 📚

This book resonated with me in a profound way. Rick Rubin connected the spiritual with the creative. He connected the artist to the cosmos. I savored this one, moving very slowly through its pages, sometimes taking breaks to let the ideas marinate. This is one I‘ll come back to again and again. It was highly motivating and inspiring, so much so that I fear these words I‘m typing aren‘t doing it any justice. This is a must read for every creative.

“Michelangelo‘s David, the first cave paintings, a child‘s finger-paint landscapes—they all echo the same human cry, like graffiti scrawled in a bathroom stall: I was here.”

“We share our filter, our way of seeing, in order to spark an echo in others. Art is a reverberation of an impermanent life. As human beings, we come and go quickly, and we get to make works that stand as monuments to our time here.”

Lunch with the tagged book and some Starbucks 😋

I must share this book!
Perfect for creatives or any human out there 😊
Loving it so far. So enpoint.

“The world is only as free as it allows its artists to be.”

“The heart of open-mindedness is curiosity.”

I‘ve been moving through this book very slowly, just taking it all in…

“Success occurs in the privacy of the soul… [it] has nothing to do with variables outside yourself.”

“Do not let the scale of your imagination get in the way of executing a more practical version of your project.”

I think I‘ll print this out and hang it up by my desk. Or better yet, keep it positive with “thoughts and habits conducive to the work” and write out the exact opposite of each one. I‘m guilty of all of these… 😬

Reading in the school pickup line as usual… been feeling a little down lately, physically and mentally. But I‘m finding a lot of comfort in this book. He links the creative with the spiritual, and I find it soothing for some reason. I think I need a social media hiatus and more me time.

“…you are never alone when you‘re making art. You are in a constant dialogue with what is and what was, and the closer you can tune in to that discussion, the better you can serve the work before you.”

The sun reflecting off my ring = stars on the page 🤩

Way to evade actually creating anything #13: buy books on creativity 😉

I‘ve been done with school for a few weeks now and finally have more time to make do on my commitment to reading more design books. I‘m excited about these two.

Just read this quote and now I feel that I need this book in my life ASAP

Legendary music producer Rick Rubin has written a book on creativity that will take its place among the best of its kind. I haven‘t felt as inspired to lead a creative life since reading Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. Rubin offers advice on creativity inspired by eastern/Buddhist tinged philosophy and his long career mentoring some of the modern eras most influential musical artists. An exceptional book, highly recommend!