Quit your day job? Yes I did! No I'm not crazy =)

Good morning to you!

I really did it. I put in my two weeks' notice on Valentine's Day (a huge gift to myself!) and yesterday was my last day of being a full-time hospital financial analyst; I would have been there 10 years next month. I think it's appropriate that my last day was Leap Day =)

I'm putting all my focus on my art. It was a gigantic decision, scary and exciting but it was just time to DO this.

Like everyone else, it's something I've always dreamed of doing...but I only thought of it as just that...a dream. I never saw myself being able to do it anytime soon because even though sales have been better than I ever expected, the income wasn't enough for me to just 'make the switch'.

A few weeks ago, a light bulb went off for me and I realized, you know what? I've been thinking about this all the wrong way. The income from my creative work will NEVER be enough for me to just make the switch. My full-time job was getting in the way of me being successful on my own; it's as simple as that. Without going into boring details, I've had to turn down certain creative offers this past year because I simply didn't have the time for everything while working full-time. In addition, so MANY ideas that come to me are just tucked away in the "possibly when I have more time" file. That file just seemed to be getting bigger and bigger the past few months; but unless I did something about the situation, I would always be at a standstill when it came to doing what I really want to do with my life.

So I'm taking the plunge. The most important thing enabling me to do this is the fact that I have some savings in the bank so I know my bills will be covered for a little while. That's going to give me the time I need to actually MAKE all the new designs and product lines in my head...and I have lists of local shops (gifts/florists/yarn/quilt shops) where I plan to visit regularly to see if they'd be a good fit for some business talk =) I'll work it in a circle of sorts...very local shops first and then expanding the visits to surrounding cities. I have the TIME for this now. I have the time to make it work. 

Admittedly, there have been a few moments in the past two weeks where I wake up in the middle of the night and think, "What the hell did I just DO?" but I have to push those thoughts aside immediately! It's important to realize that worrying about any bad things that could happen does nothing but eat away at the happy excitement it takes to make a positive change. I will never know unless I try, and I'd hate to be at my regular job 10 years from now, wondering if I could have made a career doing what I LOVE.

I fully expect there to be some lean times ahead and LOTS of hard work, but I've felt such an incredible peace, freedom and happiness since I made this decision and I know in my heart that I did the right thing.

If you're still reading, thank you! I really had to get all this out and it's a tremendous help knowing that there are people out there (you!) who understand what I'm talking about and how the passion for doing what you love can be such a driving force.

Now it's time for me to stop blabbing and get to work! ♥  

Wishing you all a wonderful day--

Janine