10-14-2008, 02:33 AM
My latest consulting gig ended July 31st, and I've tucked away another bundle of cash (who wants to be in the stock market anyway these days?). This time though, I told them I was through with it. I'm not sure what happened, but in these last few years all the joy and fun I've derived from my work was just missing. I never really planned to end up in the career I did, but it took me 25 years to get there, and now I'm pretty much walking away from it. Financially, my wife and I have done well, so money was never an issue for us.
I thought I'd share my plans with you here who know me a little. You might know also that I was raised on a cattle ranch, and I trained horses as a hobby. I left the farm for University, and never really found my way back to a rural lifestyle. I've always pined for it though. There was something comforting in walking out your back door and being "on the job" every day. I met my wife at the University, we married in her senior year, and she is a city girl. Her only requirement for our first house was that it be close to a major bus line. Yikes! But, we found a good compromise house next to a large park (cue music: "gimme land, lot's of land..."). We owned that house for 5 years, and were lucky to sell it for double what we paid for it. This let us get into our next house, where we still are situated. It is rustic, yet not rural. We are in a tight knit community with about 2 acres which I (and my neighbors) leave wild. So, while I still pine for a ranch, and livestock, I don't relish all the work it takes to run that kind of operation.
My children(now 6 & 8) have now both entered school, and my wife is aching to go back into her career (but with her own twists). My boys are also at the age where they will begin needing more dad and less mom. To remain sane when I was on the job, I would do various artistic things at home including painting oils and acrylics, pottery and ceramics, wood carving, and metal work (smithing and welding). What I've decided to attempt is to take my hobbies and make them more of my vocation now. I'm not really sure what I'm doing yet, so if anyone here makes a living as an artisan, then I would love to discuss how that works for you. I'm beginning by making connections into the arts community in my locality, and finding out who does what I plan to do. I've signed up for some advanced classes on casting metals. One idea I've had would be to connect my love of gaming, fantasy, and things medieval into my craftsmanship. I guess my thinking is that I'm pursuing the profession of craftsman, and artisan, rather than say artist. I'm interested in making useful things that don't collect dust. That's my plan at least, and I'll post some updates here in the future as my ideas work, or not.
Am I nuts? :lol:
I thought I'd share my plans with you here who know me a little. You might know also that I was raised on a cattle ranch, and I trained horses as a hobby. I left the farm for University, and never really found my way back to a rural lifestyle. I've always pined for it though. There was something comforting in walking out your back door and being "on the job" every day. I met my wife at the University, we married in her senior year, and she is a city girl. Her only requirement for our first house was that it be close to a major bus line. Yikes! But, we found a good compromise house next to a large park (cue music: "gimme land, lot's of land..."). We owned that house for 5 years, and were lucky to sell it for double what we paid for it. This let us get into our next house, where we still are situated. It is rustic, yet not rural. We are in a tight knit community with about 2 acres which I (and my neighbors) leave wild. So, while I still pine for a ranch, and livestock, I don't relish all the work it takes to run that kind of operation.
My children(now 6 & 8) have now both entered school, and my wife is aching to go back into her career (but with her own twists). My boys are also at the age where they will begin needing more dad and less mom. To remain sane when I was on the job, I would do various artistic things at home including painting oils and acrylics, pottery and ceramics, wood carving, and metal work (smithing and welding). What I've decided to attempt is to take my hobbies and make them more of my vocation now. I'm not really sure what I'm doing yet, so if anyone here makes a living as an artisan, then I would love to discuss how that works for you. I'm beginning by making connections into the arts community in my locality, and finding out who does what I plan to do. I've signed up for some advanced classes on casting metals. One idea I've had would be to connect my love of gaming, fantasy, and things medieval into my craftsmanship. I guess my thinking is that I'm pursuing the profession of craftsman, and artisan, rather than say artist. I'm interested in making useful things that don't collect dust. That's my plan at least, and I'll post some updates here in the future as my ideas work, or not.
Am I nuts? :lol:
”There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy." - Hamlet (1.5.167-8), Hamlet to Horatio.
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