The Creative Act: A Way of Being

Chapter 27 begins with a quote from John Wooden, the most successful college basketball coach of all time, about the importance of basketball players putting on their socks and shoes. Through this, Rubin demonstrates the importance of each detail in creative activity. Habits are small, but their cumulative effect has a considerable impact on an artist’s work.

Discipline enhances the creative process. Some habits to support creativity that Rubin includes are managing a consistent schedule, receiving sunlight, meditating, exercising, and showering in cold water. Rubin believes that finding sustainable rituals and scheduling periods of imaginative play opens the artist to opportunities for creativity. Rubin also recommends that artists pay attention to their daily habits so that they can remove those performed automatically and continue those that support creativity. Rubin concludes with a list of poor thoughts and habits, including “[b]elieving you’re not good enough” and “feeling you don’t have the energy it takes” (139).

In Chapter 28 Rubin defines the initial stages of the creative process. In this seed phase or starting point, artists must practice non-judgment and allow phrases, melodies, sentences, shapes, or small observations to seep into their subconscious. The collection of seeds should be approached with