Feel like debt is eating you alive?

Debtors Anonymous –
                              A Potential Path to Debt-Free Lifestyle?

Often times Marjie would walk after meetings with a fellow non-debtor and talk.  One such night he said,

 “These people are some of the brightest & most creative people I’ve ever met.  Far brighter & more creative than those who go to other 12-Step programs – then they come up with schemes like taking a minimum-wage job and believe this will solve their financial problems.  But there is a disconnect between the reality of their situations.  They are not lazy or indifferent… its part of their brain’s wiring.”

As Creatives, we are naturally very hard workers and optimistic at heart, sometimes in ways that do not best serve us.  Debt is a huge “ball and chain” hindering most of us.  Check out the national debt clock at www.usdebtclock.org/

In the spirit of INFORMATION IS POWER – I recently had the great pleasure of interviewing Marjie A.  A current Board member of Denver Art Students League, glass artist, sculptor, Custom Kitchen Designer and for six years, Chair of the National Board of Trustees of Debtors Anonymous.

What is DA?
The web site says, "Debtors Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from compulsive debting.”

Modeled after other 12-step programs  http://www.debtorsanonymous.org/help/steps.htm

John Henderson, the founder, grew up in Philly, moved to NYC, and ultimately became highly successful in the advertising biz, he’s largely recognized in the field for creating the term “lifestyle”.  He enjoyed all of the financial success that kind of career brings but he was having difficulty with money.  He was making good money but never seemed to have enough. So he set out to create what ultimately has become Debtors Anonymous.

Marjie believes (and I agree), “Our society is very schizoid about artists. On one hand, when you tell someone you’re an artist they’re excited but they immediately switch into an excuse, “Oh I can’t afford to buy…” or they go off about how their grandmother was a painter.  Or there are the organizations with missions “to assist Artists” and then expect the artists to donate their work for free to the raise money that they use to help the artists they serve.

Debt too often stands between the artist and our vision of prosperity.

So we’ve got a general public who claim to love art and artists but won’t/can’t/doesn’t buy art.  We’ve got organizations dedicated to support artists and then turn around and asks artists to donate their work to raise money.  And finally we’ve got artists and Creatives who believe in their own potential prosperity but don’t know how to make that vision of wealth a reality.

In this series we’ll be looking at Debtor’s Anonymous and some of the solutions DA offers.  We’ll explore potential remedies for compulsive spending, take a look at different types of debt and expose the crippling effects of a continuing attachment to the Starving Artist Archetype.

Want to know about your spending patterns?  Take this quiz!

15 Questions – Are You a Compulsive Debtor?
http://www.debtorsanonymous.org/help/questions.htm

Until next time - To learn more: http://www.debtorsanonymous.org/help/steps.htm