Changes Ahead

I have a plan. I have a good plan.

And unlike a lot of the others I've had in the past, I might actually be able to pull this one off.

I'm one of those folks who tend to bounce from one idea to the next. I have a lot of interests, and I can do a lot of things fairly well. But I'm not exceptional at anything really. So, deciding what I want to do with my life has been a bit of a crap shoot. For years and years and years I had this idea I'd work in an office until I could get my first book published. And then I'd be a novelist with a day job to actually pay the bills between the odd royalty check I could put back for this big purchase or that one.


Then I decided to become a stay-at-home mom. Most of the time that was fine, but being a creative sort, I kept getting an itch to do something, make something. So first I tried blogging and freelancing. The freelancing didn't work out so well for me, but blogging is fun. Then Hubby found out why teachers were happy to leave higher paying public school positions to work at private schools for lower pay and lesser benefits, and I began to try to find something that would bring in a bit of money to help ease the burden of the family finances from his shoulders.

I've had a few odd gigs now and again coordinating events and doing transcription. I tried direct sales for Usborne Books for a while, but the only regular income I've brought in has been through cleaning houses one day a week.

Over the years, I've come up with and discarded near a dozen business ideas. I've thought about doing commissioned writing, but when my heart isn't invested in the story the writing goes too slow to make it profitable. I thought about opening a bakery, but I soon discovered trying to develop new recipes would destroy my health. I even kicked around the idea of starting a publishing company, but like with the bakery, the chances of being able to raise the start up capital were slim to none.

Then, when she heard I was knitting a bunch of holiday gifts this year, a lady we go to church with told me about Etsy. I looked into it, and I soon discovered I was acquainted with an Etsy shop owner through an author's fan bulletin board. She was nice enough to answer some questions for me, and I've been considering opening my own store for a couple months now.

Unlike most of my earlier ideas, start up costs isn't a problem because I already have a good chunk of the materials I need to get started. It would be monetizing what I've been doing for fun and family for a while now. And it would give me a place to sell some of the things I've been itching to make but haven't for fear of burying us under a pile of nice things we personally just don't need. So, I've decided to do it. Once I have finished making this year's holiday gifts and have built up a fair supply of items to start out, I will open my own Etsy store.

If you're interested in hearing more about what I have finally decided to do with my life, you can check out the behind-the-scenes blog, Contented Comfort, or follow the store page on Facebook.