I’m still full-time employed with solid health insurance and a great living situation
I’m still full-time employed with solid health insurance and a great living situation, so I am not marketing the rock side hustle much right now. It brings in a little extra among serious collectors but it’s coffee money, not living money. I am starting to mess with ko-fi as a more casual alternative to ebay and etsy and looking into some print-on-demand products using hi res photos of the cut rock faces. (Because not everyone wants a literal rock.) And somewhere in the ridiculous back of my mind is a notion to create dresses based on the rock colors and patterns because I own a sewing machine and love costuming… At any rate, my next big career move down the road a few years (provided my state lets my workplace reopen fully and I don’t lose my job in September…) is going to be to quit my job and move back home to take care of my parents when they need it. My family is traditional that way- I’m prepared to spend the last decade of their lives as full-time caregiver if necessary, so they can stay together in the home they built together. It’s what they did for both their surviving parents, and as only (and still single) daughter in my family, it’s a responsibility I will gladly take on. It helps that I’m good friends with my parents and they are good friends with each other! Moving back home to help them would be a personal sacrifice (I would leave a job I love, a community I’m close to and would lose access to my rockhounding grounds and claim) but not a personal martyrdom- there’s a lot of good social and adventure opportunities in their area too. When that happens, the side hustle will kick into high gear :P But for now, it’s a series of project ideas and practice sketches, and dreams and visions for what I’ll create someday! -- source link