Our “The Emperor Has No Clothes” Moment

NO money is not a measure of your worth

“There is no doubt that creativity is the most important human resource of all. Without creativity, there would be no progress, and we would be forever repeating the same patterns.” - Edward de Bono

Many MANY thanks to @John Pavlovitz for his post entitled, “7 Things Online Creators Want You to Know.” It is both brutally honest and kind. What he describes is what I experience daily as a writer.

However, I’m not here to scold anyone, but to ask us all to take a good hard look at how our our culture functions - what we say has value, who is lauded and rewarded monetarily and for what. Most importantly, we should be looking at money itself. When push comes to shove it is nothing more than pieces of metal, printed paper, and numbers beside our names on a computer. This has always puzzled me at a gut level. Why doesn’t our survival depend on how we treat one another, other creatures, and the planet? Why are some lives valued more than others when it comes to distributing these pieces of metal and paper and numbers? Why did we use our amazing minds to create a hierarchical system that encourages some to feel superior and entitled?

These are the kinds of questions the creatives I follow ask - each in their own unique and inspiring way. Each comes at the puzzle of what it means to be human differently. Each uncovers and explores some facet of our humanity and for that reason alone are absolutely vital to our survival. But here is the other wonderful and delightful thing. They are also funny, kind, engaging, and endlessly entertaining. They are creative in ways we need to feed our souls and enable us to keep getting up in the morning. They are our light bearers and truth keepers. They remind us of our best selves and for that reason alone deserve our support and thanks.

I have been talking about this subject on my own Substack Notes. We’ve been focusing on income inequality and the bad habit we seem to have developed of worshiping those with money. While many agreed that those with money should not be praised just because they have money, or given a free pass on bad behavior, many also said that creatives being unable to survive is just the way it is and I should realize I am in good company. I was also told that, “people like me never receive recognition until after they’re dead.” How ignorant and wasteful was that comment? Plus, I did not sign up to be a martyr - lol.

It’s time for the starving artist syndrome to be put to rest and for our country and culture as a whole to begin to not only value but actively follow and consider what artists have to say - what they can show us about ourselves - as well. And by the way, not a single child is born without creativity and the ability to dream. We are ALL creative until our education system and obsession with comparison and competition gets hold of us and teaches us to be afraid of failure - afraid to try new things. Which brings me to my final point. Creative people are NOT different. They are shining examples of what you forgot about yourselves. Follow them. Engage with them. Celebrate them. And for goodness sake support them so they can continue to share their gifts.

So once again, thank you for your wonderful piece, John. Let’s continue this discussion (it’s important not to stay silent) and do our small part to keep artists alive until we can get this figured out.

Copyright 2024 by Jena Ball. All Rights Reserved.