"… They live in a continually unfolding, mutually dependent cycle. Neither is bad or good. They simply exist … Zoom in and obsess. Zoom out and observe. We get to choose. The ability to stay out of the story, zoom back, and see new pathways into and out of a challenge will be of boundless use … our imagination frees us from the web of personal and cultural stories engulfing us.” (The Creative Act, by Rick Rubin)
First and foremost, it makes me think that one’s peace of mind often necessitates the acceptance of the unknown, the unsure, the unclear, and the ambivalent. It's like putting your trust in the process itself. For many of us, this can make our most anxious feelings bubble up, and even our defenses stand guard.
Secondly, I think of the “in-between” space we aim to make in any therapeutic work - the space between a stimulus and our reaction. The awareness to zoom out, to have a moment to step back, to examine the real question before the question - Where is this question really coming from? Why do I think like this? What's behind this question?
Lastly, I take Rick Rubin’s “zoom in and out, obsess and observe” to mean a spacious mindset & mentality - a state of existence where “it’s you and it’s not you,” and where you get to choose beyond the “black and white” cognition, and beyond just seeing things as good or bad. (To reach this state, it might often need some help from psychedelics.)
I've found a lot of comfort in his writing, like a form of therapy in itself.