Wow - is this a really strong and seemingly opinionated statement.  As an artist and photographer myself I was so shocked that I was left gasping as I read this post.

Perhaps those who don’t see themselves as "completely creative" don’t understand what it takes to be such a person.  The need to be creative never leaves such a person - every waking moment of every day, and often even those moments in time when we are not awake, the creativity is there.  I can hardly pass by a person and not think whether or not I would like to photograph them and if so in what manner.  I notice textures of buildings, plants and the lighting of an area when I’m not even attempting to.  The process is always there and I am a bit of a slave to the thoughts - they control me, I do not control them.  To not express this creativity - whether for profit or pleasure - is not a choice, it is a necessity.  I could really care less whether you or any other person enjoys what I create - I create because I have no other choice.  It is as essential to my being as is breathing or communicating in any other form.

Because of this overwhelming part of my nature it can be "difficult" to focus on non-creative issues in life, but not impossible.  I would never avoid dealing with them intentionally, I have never thought nor known any other creative-type personality who thought that because we create art that the world "owed us something".  Each of us knows that if we are fortunate enough to earn a living off of our creativity we are indeed lucky and many of us fear nothing more than having to have what so many call "a real job" … we do not look down on others for having such things as "real jobs", but instead often harbor a fear that they are stronger than us as they are offering a worthwhile "skill" as many in society would judge.

To say that because one is creative means that the person feels entitled to not have to deal with mundane issues of life is a cruel statement.  I’ve never known any creative person to know such a thing.  Many struggle with the knowledge or ability to focus long enough to accomplish these mundane tasks, but don’t feel they are above them.  Indeed many fear that their inability to focus on them could be the downfall of their business or other areas of their life and end up hiring others to watch these matters for them because of this fear.

I myself end up focusing more on these mundane issues than I care to - double & triple checking invoices, daily logs of hours worked, balancing accounts, etc because I fear I will forget whether or not they’ve been dealt with because I’ve "zoned out" during a project and allowed myself to turn completely over to the creative side.

Your statement of thinking that a "completely creative" person feels themselves to "think they should be given a free pass as if they’ve given their art to the world and the world should be grateful and not bug them about the little things" smacks of envy.  It sounds to at least this creative type as a person who does not understand nor appreciate the work that goes into accomplishing a creative task and thinks these type of people are "getting off easy" as compared to the rest.  

Just because dealing with financial issues is easy and understandable to you, and others like you, does not mean it is the same for anyone else - creative or not.  This statement sounds as if you are demeaning a creative person because you finally found something you are better at then they are - it sounds desperate.

Personally, I know a few people who would jump at that kind of a ability - the ability to understand the complex world of finance and accounting.  And not all of them are creative types - just regular ordinary people who occasionally bounce a check or are in credit card debt up to their eyeballs.

This story - the Liebovitz financial predicament - and Jean Chatzky’s take on it have both come at a critical time in my life. Like Liebovitz and like Alesia, I think of myself first and foremost as an artist. Money and financial matters? Not so much. Am I stubborn when it comes to following the rules and doing the due diligence about taking care of business? Yes, I am, and I’m almost frantic to uncover the source of that stubbornness and try to deal with it. For a while, things were good. Then came the dental nightmare - tens of thousands of dollars of debt had to be incurred to repair and restore my mouth after years of botched dentistry. It wasn’t a question of choice or of cosmetics - it was a question of overall health.

And the bottom fell out, since this catastrophe coincided with my retirement and reduced income. Bankruptcy now looms ever nearer. I reached a point where a trip to my mailbox was so fraught with fear and anxiety that I stopped going! (Stubborn? Or just frightened to death of what fresh hell awaited? Both, most likely.)

I would give a great deal to learn how to balance my life better - never mind my checkbook. I won’t say I can affix blame for my current financial woes on my artistic temperament - I think that is too easy although I believe it is a contributing factor. The stubbornness is even more significant, I think. Add to that - in my case - an ocean of anger and resentment at being victimized by a combination of bad dental care, an insurance system that is light years away from providing consumers with adequate dental coverage, and the fact that legal redress is not an option because (a) I am not dead, dying or permanently disfigured and (b) the amount of money involved is "too small" to be worth it for any of the dozens of personal injury and dental malpractice folks I have spoken to. Sigh. Maybe to them - but it is an amount that is going to bring me down hard.

But this is an exceptional situation. Even had this NOT happened, I would say that I am one of those who has never been able to handle money well. Bill paying is a source of huge tension for me, and has been all my life. Frankly, money matters scare the hell out of me, and make me feel useless and stupid - yet more reasons to ignore them in my warped thinking. I would rather be writing or researching than dealing with the practicality - no, the NECESSITY - of managing my finances in a timely and adult manner.

Oh, boy. What a rant this has become. Sorry, wowsers. But in a strange way, this is also a real breakthrough for me, because I am actually talking about a part of my character that I see as so deeply flawed and shameful that I tend to stuff it down deep and hide it from all eyes. Now it is out there, and for better or worse, I need to deal with it. My situation is nowhere near as dire as Ms. Liebovitz’s, and my heart breaks that this amazing photographer stands to lose so much. But if there’s a lesson here - and there always is! - I guess it is to conquer your foolish pride and stubbornness and face what must be faced. I hope through counseling and therapy I can emerge from my messy situation stronger and more devoted to managing my finances as well as I manage my art and creativity.

Ned Hermann wrote a book called, "The Creative Brain."  In it he describe "thinking preferences" It turns out that different professions have different thinking preferences. People can be dominate in one of the 4 quadrants like A: left brain cerebral, which is highly analytic like certain types of engineers, or B: Left brain, limbic, which is highly sequential, like accountants and medical secretaries.  Then there’s C quadrant: Right brain limbic, which is  like nurses, elementary school teachers, and even pediatricians, and then D quadrant is right brain cerebral, and you have inventors, philosophers, architects.

I love the graphic in the book that plots out the "thinking preferences" of great people in history.  I’ll see if I can find a link.

 The idea is to recognize your thinking preference, there is also a test that can be performed, and then focus on something that plays to your strengths.  Some people are "Whole brained" and can relate to many of the people in all the quaddrants.  CEO’s tend to be whole brained thinkers. They discovered these pattrern after testing tens of thousands of people.

The other idea is to find people that compliment your weaknesses with their strengths. People who marry tend to have opposite profiles.  People who just move in together tend to have similar profiles. My profile is A-D: I’m very cerebral, and an analytical and abstract thinker.  I love reading philosophy books (D), and murder mysteries (A).      

In an economic downturn, purchasing art dies out long before buying groceries and daily necessities. 

I have a wonderful friend, an accomplished artist, whose CV is six pages long in 5 point type.  She has so many awards to her name she cannot name them all.  Before this recession, she was doing very well, painting portraits of local celebrities and doing her own marvelous paintings.  All the while she worked at my office, where I worked full time, one or two days a week.  Then she started to pick up more and more hours whenever someone was out.  Finally, she was laid off along with the rest of us. 

To say she was not cognizant of paying her bills because she is vastly creative is insulting.  She is almost 80 years old, and knocks herself out to balance both worlds.