Why work from home?

Hello again!

Let me start out by saying that there are thousands of reasons to work from home, but there are also thousands of reasons not to; this isn’t meant to be why you should (or shouldn’t) work from home, but rather why I am trying to, and the adventure it has taken me down. So let's start at the beginning, shall we?

I graduated high school at 16 years old, and spent the next year volunteering at the local zoo every week, interpreting, (teaching) about the large cats and wolves, which was great! But then I began to flounder. I got and failed two highly optimistic interviews in a row, (one at a local historical house, and one at the local children’s museum.) At 17 and a half, with only a year’s experience under my belt, I simply wasn't qualified enough for the type of job I wanted, and I was too impatient to want to spend the next few years gathering this experience. I wanted to work in a history museum, I had learned from the zoo, that I loved interpreting and even the ladies from the historical house who I had interviewed with encouraged me to continue pursuing this path, as I was clearly gifted in this type of teaching, but lacked the practical experience they needed. I was upset, these interviews were only about a month apart, and I’ve never taken criticism or rejection well, so in my self-pity, I began to open my eyes to something I had ignored before… I am a zebra.

Even by then, my body was beginning to go downhill more than I had ever experienced before, and at this point in medical history, I’m just going to get worse, so obtaining a job which I am passionate about, and which requires me to work out of the house would only break my heart later, when I go far enough downhill that I had to give it up. So I started looking in a new direction; self-employment- specifically making my own jewelry to sell on Etsy. I got very excited very quickly, and within a few months, I had an organizer full of beads, jewelry making supplies, and finished products, when I ran into another roadblock… taxes and legalities. I had somehow managed to completely forget that self-employed individuals were watched like hawks and that they had special tax considerations, so once again, I sank into a bit of a funk. I read through probably hundreds of pages of legal jargon, and answered questions I didn’t even know existed, before finally being able to start my Etsy last month.  

I am also working on self-publishing a book, with two others in the works as well as dozens on ideas rattling around in my brain, and next year, I plan on taking on from home Voice Over work as well. “Three jobs at once?!” Yep, and I’m not even sure that will be enough, so I have a contingency for if all three of those flop AND a contingency for if my contingency flops. “Why don’t you just get a desk job like everyone else?” ‘Cause that would kill me, and I’ve known that since I was like 5, I NEED to do something I am passionate about, or I will wither, it’s just how I am.

“Wouldn't it be easier though?” Yep. I’m not gonna lie, I’m in the middle of a crash course on marketing right now, and it sucks! I’m not a self-promoter by nature, and it feels really strange, and a little ingenuine… Not to mention being hard work, as it lies now, I spend every Monday morning pre-writing my blog for the week, my business Facebook post for the week, and making sure that I’ve got good, edited photos for my business account Instagram every week, and that’s just gonna get worse after I self-publish my book! But I also genuinely think that, due to my EDS, and my personality, this is the best path for me, even if it is tricky now.

Thanks for the read!

Are you self-employed, or thinking about it? Leave a comment below!