Thoughts For Creative People In A Modern World

Author’s Note: For those who have no clue who the band Rush is, stick with me. This is not an essay about the band. These are my thoughts and observations on being a unique and creative person in our modern world.

I’m a huge fan of the band Rush. If you’re not familiar, Rush is a Canadian band from the beautiful city of Toronto. They built a reputation on doing things their own way.

I know this sounds like a cliché for a rebel rock band, but Rush is truly different. They have never chased trends or dumbed down their work to fit into something more mainstream. They leaned into being progressive, creative artists.

Without going too deep into their music, they simply pursued making music that they loved. They didn’t chase trends. They didn’t let outside influences, such as record executives, control them. They invited feedback and options from outsiders. But, at the end of the day, they created amazing careers on their own terms, making music that wasn’t ever really accepted by the masses.

I remember reading a biography once about the band, and the drummer mentioned the point where they had to make their music their way, or just give it up. They decided that if they did get dropped by their record label, they knew that they would go out on their own terms. They could still be happy doing something else that made them happy and making a living, right?

Once they had this mindset, they never looked back.

They were never told what to do or how to do it ever again.

Today, the Rush song “Tom Sawyer” showed up on my Favorites Playlist on Spotify. I’m a little embarrassed to say that I never really dug into the meaning of the song until I was an adult.

The song itself feels like an extension of the band’s mindset. The original Tom Sawyer, created by Mark Twain, is a clever, independent kid who resists authority, bends rules, and sees the world a little differently than everyone around him. He’s not exactly rebellious for the sake of it. He just doesn’t naturally conform. He trusts his own instincts more than what he’s told.

At its core, the song is about a modern person who moves through the world without being easily shaped by it. Not in a rebellious or forceful way, but in a steady, grounded way. The character in the song is someone who understands what’s happening around them but doesn’t feel the need to adjust themselves to match it.

Though his mind is not for rent

Don’t put him down as arrogant

His reserve, a quiet defense

Riding out the day’s events

This section of the song seems to carry a lot of weight. The idea that our minds are not for rent feels especially relevant when we’re trying to make anything creative these days. We’re surrounded by examples of what works. What gets attention. What connects quickly and gets as many likes as possible. It’s all visible, all the time.

As a creative person, inspiration and exposure to others is generally a good thing. But over time, that information starts to shape things in our minds. You can start to notice it in small decisions. The way you resolve something instead of letting it stay open and pushing forward. The way you lean toward a color or an approach that you know will be safe. None of it feels like a compromise in the moment. It just feels like making smart choices.

But those choices add up.

If your mind is always open to being shaped by what’s around you, it becomes harder to tell what’s actually yours. You’re not copying anything directly, but your instincts are being quietly influenced by everything you’re taking in. The work can start to feel familiar in a way that’s hard to explain.

A modern-day warrior

Mean mean stride

Today’s Tom Sawyer

Mean mean pride

This idea of a “modern-day warrior” may sound a little over the top, but it doesn’t really play out that way. It’s about someone navigating a complicated environment without losing their sense of direction. Not reacting to everything, not pushing against everything either, but holding a steady position inside of it.

That feels like a more accurate description of what it means to be a creative person right now. There’s so much input coming in from every direction that it’s easy to get pulled off course without even noticing it happening.

We see what’s trending, what’s being shared, what’s getting rewarded, and it naturally starts to shift our approach. We start to anticipate how something will be received before we even finish it. Again, none of this is inherently wrong. Some of it is necessary. But there’s a point where the work starts to follow instead of lead, and that’s usually when it begins to lose some of its energy.

The Tom Sawyer in the song is someone who understands the world around them but isn’t defined by it. That distinction matters. It’s not about ignoring everything or disconnecting from what’s happening. It’s about staying aware without letting that awareness turn into constant adjustment. You can know what works and still choose not to build your work around it. You can appreciate what others are doing without feeling like you need to move in the same direction.

That’s not always easy to hold onto, especially when there’s a clear reward for following what’s already working. Things tend to connect faster. They make more sense to more people. There’s less friction. But there’s also less risk, and over time, less originality. The work becomes easier to recognize, but also easier to forget.

Author Sidenote: I’m a lifelong drummer, and this song has a drum solo right in the middle of it. I mean, how many songs do you remember that have a drum solo? This takes courage and sums up everything about the band Rush. They do things their way. If you don’t like it, that’s cool. There is a legion of dedicated fans that do! That’s all you need.

There’s something in the tone of the song that feels important, too. It isn’t asking for approval, and they’re not trying to create something that’s destined to be played on the radio. It was not designed to be a “hit”. That’s a difficult place to be for a creative person, especially now, when everything we make can be immediately measured and responded to. It’s natural to look for signals that what we’re doing might “work”. Some kind of confirmation that we’re moving in the right direction toward our own personal “hit”. But if that becomes the main driver, the work inevitably starts to shift. It becomes more about response than unique expression.

The more I think about it, the more the song feels less like a set of instructions and more like a way of carrying yourself in the world. Stay aware, but don’t hand over your thinking. Let the work come from somewhere that isn’t constantly reacting. Pay attention to when things start to feel too easy, too expected, too aligned with what you already know works. That’s usually the point where something may be lost.

This approach doesn’t mean rejecting everything around you or trying to be different for the sake of it. That usually leads somewhere just as predictable. It’s more about noticing when your decisions are being shaped, and then choosing, even in a small way, to push back against it. If it continues to feel obvious, push deeper. Maybe even start over and follow a direction that doesn’t immediately make sense. Maybe it will only make sense to you. This is where you should follow because you’re following something inside you, and you alone.

These moments don’t always lead to better work right away. I know that they lead to failure more times than not for me. But they tend to keep the work closer to something that feels uniquely yours.

And maybe that’s the part worth holding onto. Not a fixed rule or a clear outcome, but the idea that your thinking is something you don’t have to give away so easily.

As creative and intelligent humans, our minds are not for rent.

Damn straight.

If we’ve learned anything from the band Rush, it’s that doing things on our own terms won’t get us mass acceptance. But it can bring us great happiness and our own ravenous fan base. Sometimes it can even bring great wealth.

What’s ironic is that these are the things that many people are seeking by chasing mass acceptance.

Wouldn’t it be better to just do it all on your own terms?

A modern-day warrior
Mean, mean stride
Today’s Tom Sawyer
Mean, mean pride

Though his mind is not for rent
Don’t put him down as arrogant
His reserve, a quiet defense
Riding out the day’s events

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