This mentality is frustrating.

I used to argue with a close friend about this a lot...

This is the difference between what I called "hippies" and "fascists" (this was a joke, I don't actually mean that the people I'm talking about are fascists or hippies).

Both of these groups of people have the same fantasy. It is almost always something along the lines of "I want to wake up in the morning with absolutely nothing to do. I want to sit on the end of my dock in a cabin far away from anything and catch fish all day without having to worry about anything" or "I want to sail around the world".

The hippie approach to this is almost always some derivative of "You can DO IT! Quit your job, get a cabin or boat or whatever, and just LIVE THAT LIFE!".

This is ignoring what the actual goal is; not having to worry about anything. The fantasy is not having to think about paying rent, or electricity, or gas, or medical bills, or anything at all ever. The fantasy is having enough money that the only things you ever have to consider are things that you WANT to do, like fishing, or writing poetry.

This is why the "fascists" take the approach of "I am going to work my ass off while I'm young, then retire on a boat".

This approach ALSO has a major problem. Often times the "work my ass off" period results in the worker alienating themselves from everything that they love and are working towards spending time with; their friends, family, and loved ones.

My advice? Invest in the lottery.

It takes more than that. It also takes a lack of other concerns, like how you are going to pay the rent. Stress kills artistic creativity, for me at least.

Then you're not cut out to be an artist. Being an artist is the same as getting rich--you have to have the fight in you for it. The payoff is just different (usually).

It certainly requires a strong inner drive, but we don't always choose our drives. Some artists are wise and talented enough to also operate a business career, but the Van Goghs of this world don't always get to enjoy the fruits of their labors.

Mind you, I know some rich people that are so money obsessed they don't enjoy the fruits of their labors either...I'm thinking of one guy who collects fast cars but can rarely tear himself away from the office in order to drive them.

Maybe that is true for a very specific, romantic type of artist but in the general case art flourishes in societies rich enough to "humour" them. Why do you think American and Japanese art dominate the world?

Your arguing shades of Grey here.

Are you honestly saying that majority of artists (musicians, painters, poets) in history have been independently wealthy?

Maybe not independently wealthy, but they were patronised by those who were very wealthy.

For example, Michelangelo: http://www.geocities.com/rr17bb/PatrMich.html

For an artist, aren't life's ordeals the very grist for the mill?

I agree. Some of the best poetry I've ever read has been about hardship. I think I would rather read a poem that was scrawled on the back of an unpaid utility bill than the musings of a comfortable millionaire.

I doubt his primary goal is to output great poetry. His primary goal is to enjoy his life.