keeping your day job

I have a [sometimes more than] full-time job. and it's a really good job. I work for a great company. I'm pretty darn good at what I do. sometimes it's stressful, sometimes I don't enjoy it, but the positives outweigh any negatives. I work hard, and my efforts and talents are recognized and rewarded. but I'm not sure it's what I was meant to do with my life.

blogging is not my career. it is something I do on weekends and evenings in my "free" time while Husband is grading and planning and I'm procrastinating unloading the dishwasher. I often start a post and don't finish it. I often start a post and find myself going off on such a huge tangent that I take the tangent and start yet another post with it. sometimes I do finish posts but delay their publication for a few days. if I have a big chunk of time on weekends sometimes [at least on the baking blog] I can get a week or two's worth of posts done at once. I like to spread out my posts if I can, to publish at intervals, since I never know when I'll have a chance to come back.

even if it's sometimes intermittent, I really do love blogging. I love the photography work that goes with it. and the baking! I like sharing my life and the things that I love. having a space to rant and ramble. and on occasion having friends and strangers tell me how talented I am. but as my blog[s] gain more readers and more popularity, I begin to question why I do this. blogging, baking, and photography. simply because I enjoy it? is that enough? or do I need/want it to lead somewhere more?

I've thought a lot about blogging full time. and owning a bakery someday. about starting a photography business. or less[?] daunting...  selling prints and/or cakepops on Etsy.

over on the Etsy website blog, they do a series of posts called "quit your day job". they have sellers answer questions and tell their stories of how they went from corporate desk jockeys and Starbucks baristas to crafters and sellers of beautiful things. they talk about the freedom and the hardships of self-employment. they give advice to those considering making the leap to a new career and lifestyle. and 99% of the time that advice is: JUMP.

I have this debate with myself all the time. what do I want to do with my life? I know 25 would be far to early to have it figured out. but if I at least had a notion of a direction I could try. I know that opening an Etsy store is nothing permanent. I could open it and just see what happens, close it if it didn't work out. I wouldn't even have to quit my job. in fact I would be stupid to do that, since I would never make enough money from cake pops or prints to sustain myself on the East Coast. it could just be a little extra-curricular activity.

I'm not foolish enough to dive in head first to something without a safety net. I'm keeping my day job. but maybe if I can't bring myself to jump, I can be brave enough to dip in my toes and see how the water feels.