Expression
What Does Expression Mean?
“Artists who are able to continually create great works throughout their lives often manage to preserve these childlike qualities. Practicing a way of being that allows you to see the world through uncorrupted, innocent eyes can free you to act in concert with the universe’s timetable.” Rick Rubin, The Creative Act
I know what you are all thinking, here he goes about pottery again…. no, actually the story doesn’t start with pottery or end there really, it starts with painting. Yes, the first form of artistic expression was painting. No, not finger painting! I wasn’t that young when I started art, no I was probably around 8 or 9 years old.
My parents had recently gotten divorced and I was getting bullied by my sister. I remember being upset that day so I painted a picture of how that made me feel. I remember my mom showed my sister this painting and my mom said, “look this is how you are making your brother feel!” and then my sister laughed at it (kids are so cruel to each other). Anyways, I kept painting. I mostly used acrylics. My mom spent most of her time hanging out with artists so I think some of that rubbed off on me. One of her closest friends at the time was a painter and maybe that’s why I started. Who knows.
I used to do these little montages when we ran up local hills. I think this was Montara Mountain in Pacifica.
I didn’t like talking about my feelings so most of my early expressions came out in my paintings. So what’s my point to all this, well I guess I’m trying to start with the origin of our creativity and expression before we are indoctrinated with all the complexity of adult life.
Children are often the purest form of what we truly are as humans but unfortunately we squeeze all that out of them through school, societal structures and norms, and inadvertently get when life gets more and more demanding the first thing that often falls off is our expression and creativity. The lucky few held onto creativity throughout their life because it was probably so important to them that giving it up would be equivalent to removing a main part of their identity and others maintain a grasp on some weekend hobbies.
Key Takeaways:
Expression encompasses various forms: writing, painting, drawing, clothing, etc.
It’s a journey of unlocking creativity and self-discovery.
Childhood creativity is often the purest form but gets stifled by societal norms and adult responsibilities.
Losing My Creative Expression
"Focusing solely on results can strip the work of its authenticity and rob the creator of joy." Rick Rubin, The Creative Act
The next part of this story is more around the middle of my journey. We are about 5-6 years into my career in gaming now. I've ditched art completely as a profession because my mentor told me to pursue business and design since the road, that he himself experienced as a graduated oil painter from Pratt Institute, was extremely difficult. I’m so thankful for this pivot because doing art professionally was extremely challenging for me. The speed wasn’t within my skillset, I was up against the most talented artists in the industry, the work wasn’t aligned with how I wanted to express myself as an artist since the output was mainly commercial, digital art, and the salary peaked fairly quickly into your career.
Ok so, fast forward a bit, I’m currently a game designer building mobile games, and I remember saying to myself when I started my career, “I’ll do this so I can pay for photography then I’ll just quit.” I felt like I deceived myself because I didn’t pursue this at all.
What’s creativity!? Make that money!!! A photo of me when I started my first PM job at a tiny incubator of 3 people.
Key Takeaways:
Professional art often strips away personal expression due to rigid guidelines and expectations.
Pivoting to game design brought some creativity but remained limited.
Shifting to product management focused on business metrics led to an even greater loss of personal expression.
So what happened?
Nothing, I actually left game design and started doing product management. When I was at the first company I started at, I saw that all the leaders of each game studio were product managers or general managers and they all had the same background more or less. They all were extremely intelligent and came from top tier schools.
This job is even less creative than any of the other ones because it involves really pushing as much business growth out of a product as you can get, most users, most engagement, and most revenue. Sometimes this force can actually destroy games entirely if it’s not done with the right balance from the creative team. This shift in career trajectory was great for my salary and net worth but it was also a big loss for my personal expression.
Rediscovering Creativity
“If you know what you want to do and you do it, that’s the work of a craftsman. If you begin with a question and use it to guide an adventure of discovery, that’s the work of the artist.” Rick Rubin, The Creative Act
Fast forward to year 7 of my career in Product. I joined a young scrappy group of first time founders based in LA that were obsessed with expression. They were trying to build a fashion platform for GenZs through developing avatar technology and partnering with celebrities and brands. This was the first creative first team I’d been on in years. They really encouraged authenticity and expression. It was refreshing being in such a young and vibrant group. I was remote so I never actually met most of them in person but I could feel the energy through the video calls we had. My creativity was cracking open once again.
I started using a new app called TikTok and it was incredible. Most other social media had become so boring to me and I barely used it but this new app was incredible. It had content that was so unique and creative. The algorithm knew me better than I knew myself. I started learning things, finding new people I never knew existed before, doing my old hobbies that I missed like running, rock climbing and photography. I started learning about neurodivergence, neuroscience and psychology and spirituality. I never thought I could actually be excited again. And the content was so raw, like they’d just pick their phones up and start shooting. They all seemed so relatable and the community was so open and friendly.
Let’s be real, 2020 was mostly about hanging out with these goofballs
Key Takeaways:
Joining a creativity-focused team reintroduced self-expression and authenticity.
TikTok became a surprising outlet for inspiration, rediscovery of old hobbies, and learning new ideas.
Creativity rekindled a sense of excitement and connection to the world.
Where I Am Today
"All art is a work in progress. Perfectionism gets in the way of fun. A more skillful goal might be to find comfort in the process." Rick Rubin, The Creative Act
I’ve successfully unraveled whatever was tangled up inside my brain and started creating again. I hated sharing things on platforms like instagram and facebook. I was always so nervous about either not getting any response (which is usually the case on instagram and facebook) or worse, negative comments. My wife was a huge inspiration for me to start sharing my content. Her community and growth was such an inspiration to see so I finally started sharing more.
Rick Rubin talks about this in his book,
“One of the greatest rewards of making art is our ability to share it. Even if there is no audience to receive it, we build the muscle of making something and putting it out into the world. Finishing our work is a good habit to develop. It boosts confidence. Despite our insecurities, the more times we can bring ourselves to release our work, the less weight insecurity has.” Rick Rubin, The Creative Act
Expression is a part of your health. After sharing my art more and designing more I feel more myself than I have in the last 10 years. There’s also some science backed studies that show the antidote to anxiety is creativity. Literally the opposite parts of your brain light up when you start thinking creatively vs anxiously. So, just from a biohacking perspective if you suffer from high stress or anxiety. Embrace who you are and express yourself in the way that you feel comfortable. I also highly recommend reading The Creative Act by Rick Ruben because he makes a point for expression with no barriers.
This book helped me unlock my creative potential more than anything. He gives you the power to create whatever you want with no judgement. If you make something, that’s what you can give to the world today. Meaning that if you show up and make something, it’s a reflection of where you are today not a reflection of the entirety of all of your skills.
“All that matters is that you are making something you love, to the best of your ability, here and now.” Rick Rubin, The Creative Act
Artists and people who are expressive often suffer from being overly critical of their work. When you just let the work be what it is for that given moment you relieve yourself of judgment. Express yourself and do it as much as you feel you need to. It should come very naturally and without judgment, the mastery will be there for you at the end. You might not even realize you’ve mastered something because you’ve been enjoying the process so much.
I recently started pushing my comfort zone in ceramics and started hand building and throwing with recycled clay to see what comes from it and here’s the first wave of results
Key Takeaways:
Starting with writing helped rebuild confidence in sharing creative work.
Ceramics became a significant outlet for expression and personal growth.
Creativity supports mental health and reduces anxiety by engaging different brain regions.
Where Do We Express Things These Days?
"Think of the universe as an eternal creative unfolding. Trees blossom. Cells replicate. Rivers forge new tributaries. The world pulses with productive energy, and everything that exists on this planet is driven by that energy." Rick Rubin, The Creative Act
I am not using any Meta products (parent company of Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook, Oculus, Threads) because they are currently threatening our democracy as a country by altering and censoring the content. This is not done to protect users but instead quite the opposite.They don’t seem to care about the health and safety of their community nor do they seem to adhere to general best practices for mitigating the spread of misinformation. This causes social unrest and can have serious implications (and already has with the teen suicide rate increasing each year). The other thing that is important to note is instagram and facebook can and will throttle your content (push it away from your audience and bury it so barely anyone sees it). This happened to my wife’s art business, Instagram decided they needed to promote other things like ads, other features, other people’s content etc… This basically killed our business overnight.
Here’s my take on this: use the tool that enables what you want to express and what you are comfortable with. For me it’s a website with an email list and using apps like BlueSky that align better with my moral and ethical compass. The website is mine and I manage, the BlueSky app is owned by Jack Dorsey (ex founder and CEO of Twitter). He currently is the only CEO not supporting this current administration and has not altered the content on his site to promote hate speech.
Here’s a cute cat before I start railing on all the nonsense that’s going on right now :)
Key Takeaways:
Personal websites and email lists are valuable tools for owning and protecting content.
Platforms often throttle or deprioritize user content, which can harm creative businesses and communities
Research the products guidelines and political stance as this may impact what content you are allowed to publish
A Final Word on Expression
"All that matters is that you are making something you love, to the best of your ability, here and now." Rick Rubin, The Creative Act
Do your research on the apps and products you decide to use as you may be disgusted by what they accept and who they support. We are headed in a concerning direction as a country and now is more important than ever for people to express themselves. Expressing yourself is important as long as it’s shared in a safe and kind way. I do not promote expressions that hurt or harm anyone, your expression should be beneficial to the human race and earth and not harming anything.
Sadly this isn’t always the case with expression. Follow the spark, you don’t have to love everything you try to do, just follow the curiosity and spark that you get either from a cooking class where you burned the meal or from a pottery class you ended up doing for a year, it’s all discovery and expression even if you suck at it. Believe me I suck at A LOT of stuff, so don’t worry about the outcome just focus on the journey and the fun.
Be nice or I will sic this tough dog on you!
Key Takeaways:
Express yourself in ways that are safe, kind, and beneficial to others.
Follow the spark of curiosity—even if you fail, it’s about the journey.
Join a supportive community that aligns with your values.
