One of my dreams is to be able to work for myself from home. I’d love to accomplish this by photography, graphic design, selling my crafts, soap making, and dabbling in whatever other interests me. I want to create things, and being a banker sometimes just doesn’t cut it. I long for something new, something different, where I can put my skills to use.

At the same time though, when I do take on a wedding photography client, proofing the pictures can be such a pain I sit there for hours, analyzing (and over analyzing) the shots. I work for so long editing the pictures that my eyes get blurry and I start to get a headache. Not good at all!

It makes me think- I love photography and taking pictures. When it is a job though, sometimes it is more stressful than it is enjoyable. For instance, this weekend I am shooting a wedding and I’m already nervous about it! Even though I know it will be fine and everything will turn out well, I still worry.

I just need to realize that nothing is perfect and that in the end, what doesn’t kill me will make me stronger. As long as I’m enjoying what I do, that’s all that matters.

What do you think- do you think if you had to do something you love as “work” everyday, would it become a chore?

image from ragnarfreyer

Now is not the time for fantasies. With the horrible economy, housing market, and environmental issues, it’s not the time to be dreaming of moving or radically changing your life. Or is it?

I think I’ve made it pretty clear that I am homesick and want to move closer to my family. I think before we actually have a baby I want to be near my family for support and so they can experience it as well. Unfortunately, they live in Michigan, and we all know that is the worst state for unemployment right now. So what do we do?

I’m the type of person that is always wishing and dreaming. I’m envisioning a house on land, my own little homestead with many animals and environmentally friendly. I’d love to build a “green” house. Mr. Money sometimes tells me I need to just enjoy the things I have and not wish for other things. But I tend to disagree- without fantasies, life is boring.

I’ve been down in the dumps lately and I think it’s partly due to the fact we’re going into winter, and partly due to the fact that I’ve spent so much time with my family lately that I am dying to be living back there. The thought of moving back there and having Mr. Money on board gets me really excited. I dream of him finding a job at a good restaurant in Ann Arbor, buying a house and fixing it up or building a small dream house, and just living happily ever after. The only thing is- reality sets in sometimes and squashes my dreams.

While I’m a dreamer, I’m also a realist (or maybe a pessimist!) and I think about all the things that could go wrong and how silly I am for even entertaining the thought about moving to Michigan. I should be grateful that we both have good jobs with benefits and can comfortably live right now when so many people are struggling. So many things could go wrong and we could lose so much money if we decided to try to sell our house soon and move up there. I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place.

What do you think- is now the time for fantasies?

This post was included in the Carnival of Personal Finance at A Gai Shan Life!