Why most creatives stay broke - a battle of energies.

Why do most creatives stay broke?
I have an observation.

It has to do with the energetic resonance that makes them a great creative, which is in opposition to the energy resonance that’s needed to be successful financially.

It actually comes down to feminine vs masculine, and how we embody it and when.

So yes, this article is going to be grounded in the spiritual and energetic — deal with it.

Ok, I’ll preface this text by saying this:

I’m going to be talking about gender energies and roles, not the genders themselves. Females can embody masculine energy at times, and males likewise with feminine energy.

Secondly, in over a decade of running creative studios, I’ve personally paid over 10 million dollars to creatives. Nearly 4 million to photographers alone — so I know what it takes for creatives to get paid, because umm… I pay them. I do this shit in real life.

From what I’ve seen, the feminine is the ultimate vessel of creation.

I mean, a woman creates life, in its highest form. A woman in her most feminine is literally a portal for a soul to manifest into this reality. Whatever your chosen spiritual beliefs, most are rooted in the concept that life or a soul comes from some other realm — universe, heaven, timeline, whatever it is — and comes into a physical form that grows and experiences this life and reality within it.

Women are the conduits for this and have been praised for it the world over.

In parallel, I think being a creative is the same concept. An idea comes from a place — somewhere unknown, the universe, let’s say. Before that time it doesn’t exist. This idea then uses the creative as a vessel to manifest itself in this reality. From idea to creation.

Now luckily, we don’t need a womb to create ideas, unlike human creation.

But I do think that we need to be connected to the divine. And for this to happen, we have to be sensitive to receive — and to be sensitive to energies and feelings is a feminine trait.

Think about yourself or your creative friends. I bet you they’re more sensitive than most. They’re likely empaths who pick up on other people’s energies. They have higher highs and lower lows. They judge themselves, and probably don’t believe in themselves.

And when they’re in their creative flow, they just need space to explore it and wander freely without logic or reason.

These are highly feminine traits.

Femininity thrives in freedom of expression, in feelings — never in logic or reason.

And that’s not a bad thing — it’s what makes that energy beautiful and free.

On the flip side of that, masculine energy is about getting things done. About results and action. Emotion has little place — the masculine needs to be a rock. It is a protective energy, a strength and forceful energy — not as free-flowing as its feminine counterpart.

This is where I see creatives fall down.

Male or female, they embody the feminine energy to be the artist they need to be. They become that conduit of ideas and creativity, flowing in a space void of time, to experience their emotions and thoughts. The ideas that come are often beautiful and divine.

But then, they stay wandering in that open field — and nothing goes anywhere. They may bring that idea to life, in a painting, or song, or artwork, but it never goes anywhere.

That’s because the action of sales, and marketing, and project management is a masculine energetic flow. You need to get shit done.

And they don’t make that switch.

I’ll give you 2 examples.

At one of my favourite steakhouses, there’s a waitress who is an incredible life drawing portrait artist. Like, phenomenal. More talented as an artist than most creatives I know. Connected to the divine creative — that is beautiful to see. But she’s taking my food orders. She’s serving me drinks.

Likewise, at my favourite coffee shop, there’s a barista there that showed me a portfolio of fashion design and styling that was amazing — and she’s becoming a badass photographer along the way too.

But, serving me coffees 5 days a week.

And so, by embodying the feminine, they create beautiful work — but by being comfortable staying there, they find themselves subconsciously seeking out feminine jobs to fill their time. Acts of service and nurturing — which is what hospitality is.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the majority of successful and well-known artists, musicians, photographers, directors, craftsmen are male.

Because naturally, they have more of the masculine energy to get shit done. To use force to bring something to life and put it in front of people. They sit in the creative space to bring the ideas to life — to experiment, to feel and mood an idea — but then they shift gear once it’s done.

I mean, go back to the creating human life metaphor — what’s a man’s role if he isn’t the conduit? He has to shoot his shot (excuse the pun). He literally throws millions of attempts at the egg for success, and is wired in his DNA to try over and over again with as many different opportunities as he can.

The idea of life, while housed in the feminine, doesn’t enter the world without the masculine force.

You could bullshit on about the patriarchy, but that’s a cop-out.
Not what I’ve seen, anyway.

But like I said — this is an energetic thing.
Female artists can embody a masculine energy to get shit done.
Males can release into their feminine to receive the divine.

But like the yin and yang — it’s about balance.
There’s no light without darkness. No sun without moon. No good without bad.

Acknowledging where you are at any given time in that dynamic is imperative. It’s helped me.

Even dedicating time to sit in one space or the other could be a huge help.

If you find yourself spending a lot of time in the ideas, in the artistry — then book yourself a few hours out for the business action, for the tasks, the checklist. Get shit done.

Where I’m at now, I’m actually on the other side. I find myself, a lot of the time, in the masculine — in the business owner, sales and marketing, operations side of my business. The leader. The force.

I’ve had to make time purposefully for just idea generation. Without judgement, without logic — just taking time to receive and flow.

In my spirituality, water is the mother spirit energy.
Fire is the masculine father energy.

Water flows and nourishes, moves, and takes shape with its environment. It’s soft and supple.

Fire burns. It’s loud. It has the power to destroy — or the power to warm and bring things into light.

As humans, we need both to survive.

As creatives, we need both to thrive.

Keep creating, friends. I believe in you.