We can attempt to teach the things that one might imagine the earth would teach us: silence, humility, holiness, connectedness, courtesy, beauty, celebration, giving, restoration, obligation and wildness.
David Orr from "Earth in Mind"

Apr 26, 2008

train of thought

We're back and life is no clearer than it was before. In the last week we have "tried on" at least eight different possibilities of lives. Instead, I'm sitting here in the coffee shop on the computer trying to figure it all out. What better way of doing that than by asking for ideas.

We are at the point where we realize that our business was not working at the speed that we thought it would. There are a lot of things that need to change in our business plan if we are going to stay here. The only other some-what viable option is to move to Albany, although this is seeming less likely at the moment. This leaves us in the position that we are going to take some time to regroup, get more financially stable, and reconfigure our business.

This all feels a little like defeat but I am trying to look at it more as a pause so that we can come back stronger. Of course the shop is closed for good, a wonderful woman has taken over our lease and is already opening her fabric shop. Because of the nature of the area we live in a regular acupuncture business won't work, people just don't have the money to pay for it. So we have been exploring the idea of opening a community acupuncture clinic, basically the treatments involve less talking and use needles on the arms, legs, and ears only, and the patient is treated in a community room with a bunch of recliners. The advantage is that you can treat up to five people an hour at a much less expensive rate (15- 40 sliding scale). I'll write more tomorrow or Monday about this.

Because of our work experience and our family situation we have decided that Kevin will look for the primary job while I look for something that I can do from home. I've started looking but there is an amazing amount of internet crap that shows up when you look for online jobs. If anyone has any ideas about legitimate resources I would love to hear about them.

Honestly, I really can't wait to feel stable again it is tiring trying to stay happy when you are worrying about how you are going to pay rent and bills. I'm done feeling sorry for myself and am ready to just push through and create our life from real things not just our imagination.

This has turned into much more of a journal entry than I was expecting I'll keep it up here anyway since I really would love any input.

5 comments:

Christy said...

I wish I had some good ideas for you. I've struggled with the whole problem of what to do to earn money while being home with Logan. Teaching community college 2 nights a week is the best I've been able to come up with.

Are there any chiropractic offices around there? My sister is an acupuncturist at a chiropractic office, they refer their patients to her. It seems to work out really well.

Wendy said...

guru.com. There is a "free" option, although, depending on your skill set, it's harder to get actual work with a Basic membership. I have found legitimate secretarial types of work (which is what I do) with this website.

As someone who has worked from home for ten-plus years, I would caution you about most of the information you find online. For every legitimate work-at-home job, there are a hundred that are hoaxes.

... there's too much information to share in a comment. I've been working from home for a decade, and I've found work through half a dozen different sources. If you'd like, feel free to email me with any questions you might have. It's wendy at happilyhome dot com.

Anonymous said...

hey friend, i hear ya. i really do. our company finally sold and then went down a long slow death. he *lost* his job two weeks ago. it seems that we are on the same cusp as you and kevin right now. i think sitting quietly and regrouping is the best thing to do at this moment. the path you need to take will show itself to you in time. i'm thinking of you as we are on parallel paths... unfortunately i have no advice, just empathy.

annalouiza said...

dearest Stacey,

After all these months, i wrote you a letter this morning and now i read this. Ack! i wish you some yummy colorado sunshine energy dear heart.
i ain't got much, but i'll share!
xooox

Anonymous said...

Hi there. I live in Bennington and I have to say that it took a REALLY long time to feel connected here. I have moved around a lot in my life and it just seems like this community was hard to break into. My suggestion is not to give up. We have been here 2 years and finally there is a glimmer of light for us here. We thought about throwing in the towel and moving maybe a thousand times, but no, we're still here.