Episode 026 – Do You Believe in Magic

I have a question for you. Do you believe in magic?

I’m not talking about the sleight-of-hand card tricks or the David Copperfield type spectacles of making jet airliners disappear. 

I’m talking about the subtle magic floating around in the air. The fairy dust. Do you see it? Can you feel it?

[Music]

Welcome to episode 26.

Today is January 17, and the release date for a book that I have been anticipating for months. It was written by famed music producer Rick Rubin. 

Rick was instrumental in ushering the hip-hop movement, he co-founded Def-Jam Records and his own label, American Recordings and he’s produced some of the most iconic records from artists such as the Beastie Boys, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tom Petty’s Wildflowers and the late Johnny Cash’s record simply titled, CASH. 

But Rick Rubin is so much more than a producer, he’s a channeler, a visionary, and he’s finally written a book called A Creative Act: A Way of Being.  

Of course, I have not read it yet and the title alone will tell you it’s not the normal salacious collection of rock n roll tales. 

I can’t think of a better way to describe the book than to use Rick’s own words, “I set out to write a book about what to do to make a great work of art. Instead, it revealed itself to be a book on how to be.” —Rick Rubin

I’ve been watching Rick move through the usual press circuit, he’s been on Joe Rogan and Rich Roll’s podcasts and the more traditional appearences on 60 Minutes. 

Rick said something that got me going. He said,

“I don’t really know anything about music. It’s more a way of looking at the world and wanting it to be the best it can possibly be. And then doing whatever it takes to be the best it can possibly be, and being true to knowing that no one else knows. We’re talking about magic, here. Flow.” 

He expands his use of the word magic in a way that I’ve heard people talk about for decades. The notion that ideas and clues are drifting through the universe at every moment, waiting to attach themselves to the antenna that is open to receiving them. 

Maybe you’ve experienced this phenomenon. You’ve have an idea, you process it, turn it over in your mind and a month later, two months later, you hear someone talking about it on a podcast or you see a video about the very idea that you were thinking about. 

It’s not because someone stole your idea, It was just time for that idea to be discovered. And someone else picked it up. 

Many years ago, I had the privilege to be standing in a bar next to one of my all-time favorite songwriters, John Prine. He was talking about songwriting and he said, “If an idea comes to you in the middle of the night and wakes you up, and you don’t get out of bed to give her the attention she needs, she’ll go to the songwriter down the street.” 

That was Prine’s magical way of saying what Rick is saying, the universe has everything we need. We just need to pay attention. 

It comes down to what you see. And not only what you see but how you see it. And that interpretation is what becomes the art. Each one of us would interpret that thing we see differently. 

Can you imagine if Taylor Swift and Neil Young interpreted the same idea individually? How differently would each of their interpretations be?

I think about this every time I drive back to my home in Mexico. I wonder what a friend would think seeing it for the first time. Would they see the majestic landscape or would they see the trash? Would they feel the generosity and kindness of the people or would they see poverty. 

These days, I think it’s more difficult than ever to get our antennas to hone in on the magical bits floating in the midst of all the atmospheric noise out there. 

And the process of doing has overshadowed the art of being. I am speaking personally here. In the creative space the act of doing pushes aside that concept of being. The uncomfortableness of self-branding tarnishes any semblence of authenticity. Everything just feels sticky. 

It’s only by being infinitely curious do I maintain any contact with that magical space of being. Some would argue – and they’d be correct – that I have it backwards. Concentrate more on being and the doing will sort itself out. 

That brings into the fold the abstract concept of surrender. And with that, to fully embrace the notion  that everything shows up at the exact moment you need it. Another book on my list is Bono’s new release with the same name, Surrender. 

I love what Bono said about this book, “I am still grappling with this most humbling of commands. In the band, in my marriage, in my faith, in my life as an activist. Surrender is the story of one pilgrim’s lack of progress … With a fair amount of fun along the way.”

There is a lot of abstraction going on here today. I’ve been diving deep lately. I’ve been out of my normal space, giving a lot of energy to other things and I’ve not yet perfected the art of allowing it to roll off like water off a ducks back. 

Hearing these legendary artists talk about their process, their struggles and victories is uplifting. I always say, the footprints you leave behind become someone else’s road map. 

And if Bono is still struggling with the concept of Surrender, then I’m in good company. What I have come up with is a structure that might just help me conceptualize this entire process. It’s not a mountain that needs climbing. It’s much simpler.

It’s a step ladder. It has three treads. 

The first step is Curiosity. We can all reach that first step. 

The second step is Surrender. 

And the third step? Is magic. 

Hey, thanks for listening. 

This is going to be the last episode in Season 2. The launch date for Season 3 is still up in the air but if you’re on the email list, you’ll be the first to know. 

If you’re not on the email list, themindunset.com is the place to go if you want to sign up, listen to past episodes, or find out how to support the show.

Okay, thanks for taking this ride with me. Adjust that antenna. Unleash your magic on the world. We need it.

Until next time: Be Nice. Do Good stuff.