these days, so so many people starting the cycle again...the "just leap" cycle....the assurance that you too can live the life of your dreams...that if you just believe it, it will happen.  it reminds me of a church i used to go to that would preach "name it and claim it" faith - if you believed hard enough and had strong enough faitth, then God would heal you or find a husband for you or that dream job or or or whatever.  If it didn't happen, then you didn't have enough faith.  so many people caught in the web of send me money and i'll tell you how to make your dreams come true - if it doesn't work, then well, you didn't try hard enough or missed a step somewhere.  send me more money and take workshop #2 or prayer chain to heaven or or or.  I say this - for free - do what you have the stomach to do...what does your gut say?  what risk are you able to take without a breakdown?  what are you willing to risk losing?    if you are willing to risk it all - your home, your life-as-you-know-it, then go for the big one - do it all.  if you need the certainty of a roof and warm food, then plan ahead for a way to keep those things - wait & save enough to cover those expenses.  yes it sucks to work all corporate when your heart is singing songs of paint and splatter, but food and warmth are nice too.  I try to stay positive, but it just isn't my nature, so i'll say that i have really truly come to dislike the Dream Peddlers...those who want to sell you your own dreams...those who gloss over the realities of your own life and make everything wrapped in chocolate and glitter - just to pay their own bills.  sorry - this isn't the way you hoped to wake up, but i had two separate emails waiting for my coffee to open my eyes this morning.  both of them aimed at tugging my heart to talk to my brain softly and beg it to hand over a sum of money to be shown The Way.  know this: that just because a person is an artist, a crafter, a blog friend, a facebook friend, a church friend does not mean they won't take your money under grey-ish circumstances. and don't get me wrong - i think the age of miracles is still going strong...i believe there are those who will stand up in the middle of a power point and say "ENOUGH," and grab some free office supplies and go home forever.  and a year or two later, they'll be on Letterman hawking their new book or having their work ensconced in the Smithsonian or whatever.  but be careful from whom you take your lessons.  be very judgmental about who you will entrust to teach you how to get your dreams off the ground.  and there is a lot to learn before you leap, or while you are flapping off the edge.  my strong advice has always been to learn while someone else is paying you - night classes, meetings with support crew and accountants to learn how to set up your files and banking, investigating at least two suppliers for every material you need (trust me here), while you are still sitting at the corporate dinner table.  this is off track again.  my point is, don't wake me up to shine a light in my eyes unless there's a fire...i think it is wrong wrong wrong of  someone to base their living around talking you into choices that are not right for you, or are not the right timing for you.  and then when the poop hits the fan, they can step out of the way because you are an adult and should know your own boundaries and limitations and risk quotients and slide rulers and projections.  it will never be on them, as they count their money.  i really think i should drink decaf in the morning.  okay - you're on your own.