Sometimes, I feel like, if I continue to chronicle my journey into building a sustainable creative life, I can become an example. But I'd like some of my own to look to (like you and Shannon O).
And other times, I think that this is such an individual journey, that no one's will look enough like my own to give anything more than general encouragement.

Maybe what we need is a community or tribe of people at various stages of this journey, all sharing their various trials, along with tips with each other, but also with the diy/freelance community at large (a group blog, a podcast, a forum)?

Many lose that creative inner voice… The one that always finds a way to make herself heard. It is whether or not we recognize it. I really think some do, to different degrees. Some listen just a little, enough to keep peace and fit in. Not that this is wrong, as I think for some, it is better for them to maintain that stance, psychologically. Then there are the others… Those who now only hear that little creative voice, but speak and live through it. Those are your *quit a good job in the middle of a recession* people :P

I was brought up with your typical American Family… siblings all finished college, have phenomenal stable jobs… huge houses, cars etc. I am so glad I was, because it was that that made me really truly hear my creative inner voice, of just how different I was, and what was transpiring within….

To move to a country cow town as a single mom, and eventually, start up a crochet business designing, to the dismay of many and comments abundant “You will never make it…..!” Of course, I know they all only cared, and in their eyes, they could not fathom my logic… So, their words of wisdom were heartfelt, to the best of their understanding of the world – one which I was a part of. Like you said, understanding yourself. I understood them, and understood parts of myself that they did not. Really understanding yourself, your needs, and how you work , and then meeting those needs- that is where the creative soul comes in.

The money I received went straight onto our mortgage as we are a pair that hates debt, and I lived on my husband's salary. My family are mostly people who live to work (not work to live) – post-war, migrant folk who could have retired years ago but keep working to keep busy. My husband was great – I think he saw I was on the edge of a nervous breakdown, and he was equally frustrated that I couldn't find the time or energy to create in my spare time.

I have to say that while the business was successful, I was limited by how much people wanted to pay for my items (and really, how much I wanted to charge! I wanted to be reasonable), how much time I could invest in the designing and the creating, as opposed to the posting and the emailing and the listing. And there were some low points – the lack of confidence, as mentioned above, as well as the typical “woman's guilt” about not earning an adequate income, couple with my need for a proper “break” from working at all.

I am still running my business, but on a limited basis due to lack of time. I wanted to go back to full-time work at a lower level, doing something completely different – something more creative. So now I get immersed in creating maps and helping with planning and policy. Not where I thought I'd be a year ago, but I really wouldn't have it any other way.

I've been wanting to blog the journey for some time – lessons learned and what I still want to achieve. When I do, I'll let you know.

In this day, when we don't all need to make and cook for survival, but can rely on ready made and store bought food instead, what emphasis are we placing on the importance of our own creativity in the grander scheme of our lives? I took the package on offer when I lost my job in June, and aimed to live a creative life for at least 3 months (it became 4). Can you imagine the reaction I got from people? The creative crafty people were all “OMG that's BRILLIANT” and the others (like my family) were wondering if they could institutionalise me!

It raised a lot of self-doubt that I could justify my existence as a woman (with no children) by baking bread cooking home-cooked meals every night and starting an Etsy shop and learning how to run a home business. But I'm so glad I did it. I would do it again in a flash. I only took the job I'm in now because I had the confidence to say “Yes, I can do that. I know I've never worked in indigenous health policy before but I know I can do it because it I set up a home craft business and that worked!”

Sorry for taking up som much comment space, Kim. I should have just written my own blog post!

I always felt I didn't fit in (and I think it was because I wasn't a “standard” child – too smart, too sensitive, too obsessed by reading and writing…). Moving to another country helped me tremendously with this – there is just no way you're going to fit in as a foreigner, so you might just as well live happily with your own originality.

Rules for the creative life? There certainly are no standardized rules for the creative life, but I start more and more to think that you need rules, and that you have to make your own. I need rules, or routines, to make place for creativity in my day-to-day life, and not get bogged down in mundane tasks and family obligations to the point where I don't feed my creative soul.

Lots of things to think about here…