Yes. This book by the “legendary music producer,” Rick Rubin: “The Creative Act: A Way of Being,” is a good read. Anyone “being creative,” which includes all of us, will get something from it. It is a bit of a philosophical/spiritual tract, a manifesto, a long-form essay, a unargumentative argument for being a Creative Being & Being Creative & living a Creative Life. Rick makes the case that we are here to manifest ourselves in collaboration with the Universe. When we create anything, a conversation, a building, a novel, a song, whatever, we are dipping into, and bringing forward, ideas from the Source, and manifesting that inspiration forward into the world. I like to say, doing the creative work is “the good work;” a discipline, a process, a mission, that gives our lives meaning & purpose. And by doing the work, we transform our selves, and our lives. Powerful shite. Rubin delves deep into the subject, and shines a light on all its various, angles & contradictions. It’s a pretty definitive discussion of the subject and shows the way that creativity can emerge, be channeled, & ebbs & flows. It’s a bit of a “how-to,” manual, but it’s put forward as a long-form suggestion, “take what you need, and leave the rest.” I took most of it in. Most of the book totally resonates with my own lived experience. For me there were no great surprises, I feel like I have “lived this book,” throughout my very own long-form, creative journey; writing stories, poems, plays, putting on plays, performing, directing, and then, writing songs, organizing bands, rehearsing, performing & recording. It’s a way of Life a way of Being. The best kind. So, yes, for me, this is quite the validating book. Rubin also brings a Zen-like quality to his Life & his writing, he embodies a kind of spiritual practice that shines through every sentence. Yes. And his dedication to meditation, to observing & learning from Nature, hits home too. I too use this two-pronged approach in my creative practice. Anyway, I do recommend the book, I think it will appeal to pretty much anyone. My only little quibble, this kind of all encompassing, grand vision seems a little too neat. I tend to retreat to the shadows. I don’t like to over-think my creative process. My creative process is sort of a mystery to me, and I want to keep it that way. Some how, some way it works for me. Every time a riff, a lyric, comes, it’s a surprise. It’s an organic method, inspiration just emerges. Usually my best work comes from my subconcious pool of being. I am always trying to get out of my head & into another realm, the realm of pure creativity. Rick acknowledges that approach too. The book is quite magnificent in it’s very own unique way. – Jammer
Tag: music
r&r diary — “The Killer Conundrum, Best Way Forward in 2026?” – 01.01.26
Best way forward in 2026? Do the things we love to do with all our love, heart & soul. For the Lovely Carla and I, that means making music with our band, whitewolfsonicprincess, and the incredible collection of creative souls we are lucky to create with & know. Fellow creative spirits onto the next thing. Creating new songs, new worlds, exploring new territory. For us, the new year also means spending lots of time with our little flock of birds, and all the happy little furry creatures we hang with; living with body, mind & spirit aligned, navigating a fantastically strange existence as best we can.
Still, 2026 in America: difficult circumstannces, no doubt…
If you have read Cormac McCarthy’s post-apocalyptic novel “The Road,” (2006) (it is a worthy read), you know one of the key existential questions, that “the Boy” asks “his Father,” after much drama & trama, and a long, winding journey across a bleak & scarred land, a question that sort of makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up: “Are we still the good guys?”
It’s a question that this particular American is asking himself this particular morning, the 1st day of 2026. This country I live in has taken a very dark turn. The USA is being led by a criminal & a criminal administration. All evidence points to the conclusion that “No, sorry to say, we aren’t still the good guys.”
Crimes against humanity near & far. The USA now seems to be a force for evil, corruption, murder, greed, racism, white supremacy & idiocy. It’s a major bummer. Makes living in the USA a very difficult proposition. A thorny, contradictory, porcupine-like existence.
It’s a killer conundrum. I cling to a disciplined positivity as a basic & essential survival strategy, but also I adhere to a determined clarity. To see the world as it really is, not just how I want it to be, no rosy-colored glasses. Clarity. Stone-cold clear-seeing.
How to live a good life, knowing that crimes are being committed in my name every damn day? The only answers I can conjure up: Stay close to ground. Create music. Try to do my best to be honest, true, with positive thoughts for a better day and a better way. Love those I love. And resist, oppose the evil-doers, refuse to go along with the idiocy, and the bad actions of others, to stand against them with every ounce of my being.
The Lovely Carla and I choose Love, Grace, Beauty, Intelligence. Happy New Year! – Jammer
r&r diary — Patti’s Death-Haunted Memoir… – 12.01.25
I finished reading Patti Smith’s “Bread of Angels” (2025). It is a beautiful, “death-haunted,” memoir. I suppose if you live long enough you too will become “death-haunted.” Death is sort of the mystery that envelops every life. Those of us still living must contend with the reality and finality of death in our own particular ways. Patti reaches out to the mystery & the poetry. It’s admirable, inspiring and deeply sad too. I was happy to read the book, and also happy to finish it. Patti lost some of her most significant lovers, inspirers, and co-conspirators early on. And she lost many more significant & influential folks over the years. She pays tribute to all those who gifted her along the way. An extraordinary life. The r&r shaman & poet. I recently purchased the 50th Anniversary Edition of her debut album “Horses.” (1975). The remaster CD sounds fantastic. One of the greatest debut albums of all time with probably, for me, the greatest opening lines of all time. Certainly lines that made this lasped-Catholic boy sit up and take notice. Yes. Head-opening. A glorious liberation: “Jesus died for somebody’s sins, but not mine…” The lines that follow are epic too: “… my sins are my own… they belong to me… to me…” Very Jean Paul Satre “existentialist,” don’t you know?! And then throughout her rendition of the classic r&r song, “Gloria,” Patti adopts the persona of a very insistent & aggressive rebellious-tomboy, on the hunt for a pretty young thing, “leaning on the parking meter, humping on the parking meter,” or maybe she’s imagining embodying a creative, rebellious, rambunctious boy, something along the lines of a young, surrealist-cowboy-mouth Dylan or an illminated Arthur Rimbaud? You know, totally, fucking extraordinary, mind-expanding r&r, right up there with Dylan’s great album “Highway 61 Revisited” (1965).- Jammer


