Rick Rubin’s Advice-11/5/25
It’s 1:30am. I took a nap earlier this evening after work and can’t sleep.
Earlier this afternoon after work was done I stopped by 7-ELEVEN to get a hotdog and a raspberry arizona iced tea. I was eating in the car not ready just yet to immediately head home. I put on a podcast that I’ve listened to several times. It’s Dr Rangan Chatterjee interviewing Rick Rubin on his podcast promoting his book (Rick Rubin probably hates that word promoting). I was listening to the very last part where Dr. Chatterjee asks Rick if there were any last words he wanted to say before closing up.
There is a youtube version of this podcast but this particular clip must’ve been cutout. And although there were many insightful tips on how to always stay creative, this last bit really struck me. It’s a bit of advice for anyone that feels that they’re burned out with their job and have completely lost passion for it. Or maybe there wasn’t any passion for the job because you just needed a job to make money.
Listen to this portion to hear what Rick Rubin has to say click here.
To rephrase it into my own words from what he said:
If you aren’t in love with what you’re doing whether it’s an art project or your work, we have the capability to leave it at anytime we don’t feel happy with it and move somewhere else. There is another job waiting for you that better suits you and your personality. Don’t force yourself to do a job that doesn’t feel right, where everyday you feel like you have to put on a mask, turn yourself from introvert to a fake extravert.
There is someone else out there that could replace you that fit better into that job. And it’s in everyone’s interest to fit into where you naturally belong. The gears of society run better when everyone is doing what they’re passionate about. Don’t do it for the money cause that might be a motivating factor for taking up the job but real quick that is not enough to keep you there if you lack the passion for it.
And the reason it’s hard for us to leave a toxic environment or relationship is because we don’t expand our minds to the idea that there are more potential healthier options out there.
“There are so many options available to us that we don’t, you know, we’re stuck in our small story of who we are and what our lives are.
And it’s all a choice. And we have the power to change it. Anything, anything in our lives that doesn’t give us joy, we can change and we can find the version that suits us.”
If any this was of value to you or just want to support my street photography work any donation is a big help keeping me doing what I love to do.
