Jobs,we have jobs.

   Jobs are funny things. Most of us have and need one but we'd rather be doing something else.

   Alvin works in the printing industry in a highly technical job that takes a lot of skill but he'd rather be a professional fisherman, or a cowboy, or an astronaut.

   Now me, I'm a cook and I love to cook. I'm really good with a knife (a fact which scares the bejesus out of Alvin because I also have a slight sadistic streak and he never knows when he'll wake up in the middle of the night to find me standing over him holding a buthcher knife) but I'd rather be a writer. I'm also trying to start a crafting business. You can find me at Etsy.com if you're interested.

   Once you start getting older you begin to question what you're doing with your life and when it comes to jobs we're pretty much stuck with the choices we made when we were younger. Or are we?
Since the recession began we've all been re-thinking what we're doing with our lives.

   Sometimes the only thing that prevents change is fear. Once you've lost your long-standing job you're not afraid anymore because the worst has already happened. Now is the time to make the change that you've always wanted.

   Alvin and I have made big changes a couple of times in our lives.
When we were newly married with a small baby we lived in Florida near some members of Alvin's family. For different  reasons they all moved back to Indiana where we all come from leaving us behind. We didn't care for being without family and things weren't going too well financially so we decided to pack up and head home. Mind you, we didn't have jobs or a place to live.The move itself was quite the adventure. Now when I say adventure I usually mean memorable but not necessarily good.

   We moved from Florida to Indiana in January during the South's worst snow and ice storm in a decade. The day we packed up we had no one to help us load the U-haul. Alvin and I packed up the whole house by ourselves while the baby cried every time I left the room. Despite the stress all went well until we loaded the king-size mattress on top of the U-haul. I put the baby in the cab of the truck while I helped Alvin load and lash the mattress. Now it was time to hit the road and all we were missing was our 16 month old daughter. That's right, she was gone! The next few minutes were the worst of our lives until we found her on the neighbors front porch.

It took us 4 hours to go the first 100 miles because of the ice and having to re-tie the mattress. Long story short, we got to Indiana the next day, found a place to stay and two weeks later Alvin got a job.

Would we do that now? Not without a very compelling reason. I don't know what we were thinking.

   We still lack a fear of the unknown. Maybe we're trusting, maybe we're stupid but I do know that every once in a while you have to shake things up to get rid of the dust. And sometimes the only way to make your dreams come true is to take a leap of faith.

This would all be so much easier if you knew what you wanted to do with your life when you were young enough to make easy changes. The great thing about growing older is that you finally know yourself well enough to make informed decisions. The bad thing about growing older is that you may feel that it's too late to change. Keep in mind that Grandma Moses didn't start painting until she was in her 70's. 

Never let fear cripple you.

   So if we ever lose our means of living here in Georgia we'll just hit the road and see what happens.

Next stop? Arizona looks nice. 


Check out my Etsy site where I sell stuff. www.etsy.com/shop/gaiaterra