Many famed music producers, however brilliant, become known for a particular sound which has its day and then ages out. Rick Rubin, on the other hand, is most famous for something else: for creating a strong safe space where artists of wildly different genres and traditions can home in on who they really are and what they really offer. To surprise themselves, and thus the world. Rubin's true art is for helping people get out of their own way and commune with the powerful creative signal that is their birthright. Over the years, Rubin has thought deeply about where creativity comes from and where it doesn't, about what it takes to strike a deep nerve within ourselves. Perhaps above all, he has learned that being an artist isn't about your specific output, it's a relationship to the world. Creativity has a space in everyone's life, and everyone has the opportunity to make that space stronger. Indeed, it may be our most important responsibility.

Everyone is a creator -- Tuning in -- The source of creativity -- Awareness -- The vessel and the filter -- The unseen -- Look for clues -- Practice -- Submerge (the great works) -- Nature as teacher -- Nothing is static -- Look inward -- Memories and the subconscious -- It's always there -- Setting -- Self-doubt -- Make it up -- Distraction -- Collaboration -- Intention -- Rules -- The opposite is true -- Listening -- Patience -- Beginner's mind -- Inspiration -- Habits -- Seeds -- Experimentation -- Try everything -- Crafting -- Momentum -- Point of view -- Breaking the sameness -- Completion -- The abundant mindset -- The experimenter and the finisher -- Temporary rules -- Greatness -- Success -- Connected detachment (possibility) -- The ecstatic -- Point of reference -- Non-competition -- Essence -- Apocrypha -- Tuning out (undermining voices) -- Self-awareness -- Right before our eyes -- A whisper out of time -- Expect a surprise -- Great expectations -- Openness -- Surrounding the lightning bolt -- 24/7 (staying in it) -- Spontaneity (special moments) -- How to choose -- Shades and degrees -- Implications (purpose) -- Freedom -- The possessed -- What works for you (believing) -- Adaptation -- Translation -- Clean slate -- Context -- The energy (in the work) -- Ending to start anew (regeneration) -- Play -- The art habit (sangha) -- The prism of self -- Let it be -- Cooperation -- The sincerity dilemma -- The gatekeeper -- Why make art? -- Harmony -- What we tell ourselves.