Financial Hopes and Dreams

[Jody]

When the day comes that I am healthy enough, I would like to start a business. I would like to own and run a knitting store here in my pokey little town.

In my pokey little town there is no store to buy knitting supplies, other than the dollar store offers a few knitting needles and the occasional ball of yarn.

I would like to sell yarns and books and patterns,and all the other paraphernalia which evokes a contented sigh just to think about them. Knitting stands and woven baskets.

Stitch holders, circular needles, clasps and frogs and other fasteners. Needles of metal, plastic and bamboo. Crochet hooks. Big metal needles for threading yarn for stitching up a finished piece.

Make and have for sale, sweaters, scarves, hats, purses, afghans. Each one a bit different from the rest, the opposite of mass production.

I'd like to offer a knitting class to anyone interested.(have to find someone else to teach it though because I am still a newbie.

A couple of chairs for people to stick around and stitch and shoot the breeze with me.

Maybe sell some teas or coffees, some muffins and cookies for the Carb Eaters.

And if I'm going to go all out here (and I can here, cos it's all just talk ) I'd like to have an area set aside to sell home made herbal ointments and soaps and special favourites like Lymphagen and Traumeel (herbal ointment for pain and inflammation. Works great.)

And a little spot for other people I know who make stuff. One lady in the area makes the most beautiful, fragrant (or fragrance-free if you prefer) soaps from all natural ingredients. Non-drying, slightly moisturizing, great soap. I hope she never quits making it because I hate any other soap now. I've been spoiled.

There. That's a start.

Anybody else got a cherished hope for the future?

 

[Jody]

Seems as good a place as any to put this.

I just got my contract to sign for EmpowHer.com. They will pay me for 8 articles a month on their site.

 

[Lisa]

Grats on the contract Jody!

I'll add a hope here. I hope that the Department of Education hurries up and sends me the financial paperwork I need to fill out (can take up to 3 months) before they change their mind about discharging my old student loans.

They have just over two more months left if they stick to 3 or less months but I am not ready to truly believe my good luck on this until I get the letter stating they are gone.

Lisa

 

[Jody]

Thanks Lisa.

Ooh, I hope they hurry up and get your old loans taken care of too.

Let me know what happens.

 

[Jody]

I'm so excited I could bust.

What I got the other day from EmpowHer.com was attachments for the documents (contract, etc.) that I needed to print out and fill out and mail to them.

Today, after going through the hassle (to me this techno-stuff is very challenging ) of finding drivers for my daughter's printer to be used with my computer, getting things all set, changing the type of document because my computer wouldn't work with them in the form in which they were sent, and hitting "print" -- the printer ran out of ink.

And I can't afford to buy an ink cartridge and as I've whined about before, I don't know anybody around here to ask for use of a printer. Tried calling my step-dad but couldn't get hold of him.

Eventually called my naturopath and she graciously said she would print out my stuff.

Now I have the papers in my hot little hands and I am all giddy.

I will get them sent out tomorrow and on Monday next week, I am officially employed. (okay, it's part time, and it's freelance, but it's REGULAR. I haven't had money I could count on earning in a long time.)

Now all I have to do is write an article on Brain/Nerves for next Tuesday ...

 

[Jody]

On yet another front,

My naturopath asked me almost a year ago to write a testimonial about my illness and her treatment for a flyer she wanted to send out with the local newspapers. Half a page of my testimony. It got shelved, then shelved again and I sort of quit thinking it would happen.

It was the first "piece" I'd written for anything in 6 yrs.

She told me today that it is due to go out mid-August. It won't have my name on it because she's not allowed to do that (Naturopath's Assoc'n rule of some kind) but she is putting in my initials, my town, and Ncubator's url.

That makes me giddy too. Just a goofy girl tonight.

 

[Jody]

I went from feeling terrific last night, to a full bore panic attack. I think it was because I so want this to work out, this freelance job, and was afraid, what if I relapse and it all goes away again? And I kept running into roadblocks, the printer not working, needing answers from my editor to finish the documents and not being able to get her, knowing I had to get it in the mail today ... had stomach pain, face numbness, body stone, etc. Still had it this morning.

Finally just phoned my editor -- in Arizona -- and found out what I needed to know, and got it all mailed. Told a few people uptown in my pokey little town what was going on, about my new job, got some positive feedback from them (so important to get feedback!) and I feel back on track again.

I'm writing on stroke, with conventional medicine and alternative medicine also in my very first paid article on EmpowHer.com.

 

[Lisa]

Well Done Jody.

Good job in working through your road blocks and getting the contracts in the mail! Congratulations on the extra boost of good news from your naturopath and the flyers coming out. Looks like the universe wants to see your writing get out into the world at this point in time.

I hope your panic attack had the good sense to come the day after your giddy night instead of being a rude intruder. We all need a giddy night now and then, yours sounds well deserved.

Just keep reminding yourself to live this moment instead of worrying about possible future relapse. You've earned this through your hard work both in writing and your health. Give yourself a pat on the back and enjoy the ride!

Hug,
Lisa

 

[Jody]

Thank you Lisa

I appreciate you responding, it's nice to have someone to share this with.

Especially somebody who gets excited with me. Thanks, girl!

Y'know, it really does feel like that, like it's time for this somehow.

I have had things go well and go poorly in my life, met with good response, bad response, no response ... But the types of response I'm getting with my writing has often been over the top. Sometimes it leaves me scratching my head. Seriously.

Cos I only just started all this 4 months ago and I didn't expect things to be going this well by now. In Ncubator's first 2 wks, I was getting a ton of email, and people full of extravagant praise for the site. And then, it stopped.

Then, with each new thing I would try, I would get the same pattern -- huge welcome, would last a bit then trail off. That pattern keeps repeating itself.

And it feels like, illogical as this is, like Somebody is making sure I get a REALLY good greeting and encouragement each step so I keep going. Once it's assured I am going to do it, that simmers down, but the huge Welcome! sign comes out again as I take first hesitating steps in a further direction.

No, I'm afraid my panic attack ruined my giddy night, by about 10 pm. I did manage to breathe my way through it and bring it down to size. Talked with Alan a bit about it and that helped. Curled up in a ball in bed for a half an hour, eyes closed, and that helped.

Realized that -- well, like my new article the other night -- really good stressors can be hard on ya. And mine took me through the wringer backward the other night.

Thanks so much for the encouragement Lisa.

 

[Helene]

Jody!--

Ok, so i'm REALLY behind on all this, but it's SO cool to hear the story BEHIND me finding your article on EmpowerHer!... (and you know how i found THAT to begin with?!... i googled "CFS and isolation" ... and there was your article!... and a beginning of me coming out of isolation, sort of!).

I am so in love with your knitting store/cafe!... Oh, it would go over well in Chicago in winter, especially, I think!... But you are NOT in Chicago, and truly, it seems much quainter where you live. I don't even knit, and I want to come! (well, my grandmother taught me how to when i was seven, and i did knit a skirt for my doll!).

Oooh. And I must find out about acquiring some of that handmade fragrance-free soap!

I totally know what you speak of in terms of the starts and stops, big excitement... then overwhelm!... then... meltdown... then... balance, oftentimes!...

Well, this is much after the "fact", but I just wanted to chime in.

Moreover, I'm so excited for you! I didn't even realize (duh) that you were getting some income from the Empower Her. AMEN! Keep inspiring! But don't forget to REST.

And... "Expect a miracle every day!"

Helene

 

[Helene]

OH. I kept looking to the top right of the posts on here, seeing June, but that was your "join" date. Guess I'm NOT so behind! "Nevermind"!

 

[Jody]

Jody!--

Ok, so i'm REALLY behind on all this, but it's SO cool to hear the story BEHIND me finding your article on EmpowerHer!... (and you know how i found THAT to begin with?!... i googled "CFS and isolation" ... and there was your article!... and a beginning of me coming out of isolation, sort of!).

I am so in love with your knitting store/cafe!... Oh, it would go over well in Chicago in winter, especially, I think!... But you are NOT in Chicago, and truly, it seems much quainter where you live. I don't even knit, and I want to come! (well, my grandmother taught me how to when i was seven, and i did knit a skirt for my doll!).

Oooh. And I must find out about acquiring some of that handmade fragrance-free soap!

I totally know what you speak of in terms of the starts and stops, big excitement... then overwhelm!... then... meltdown... then... balance, oftentimes!...

Well, this is much after the "fact", but I just wanted to chime in.

Moreover, I'm so excited for you! I didn't even realize (duh) that you were getting some income from the Empower Her. AMEN! Keep inspiring! But don't forget to REST.

And... "Expect a miracle every day!"

Helene

Hi Helene,

I do expect a miracle every day, cos I need 'em.

I am touched that you found me by googling cfs and isolation. Glad you did.

As you now know, you weren't behind on things at all. I was writing for EmpowHer for free for about 3 months. Then they asked me if they could pay me. I said, of course! That only happened a few weeks ago and the actual job only started yesterday. You are right up to date.

Yeah, I am in love with the knitting store / cafe too. Perhaps one day I will have one. That's the hope.

"Quaint" doesn't begin to describe where I live. It is dull, boring, and I don't know anyone around here anymore.

Glad you made it on to the forums again, Helene.

 

[MEKoan]

Hi Jody

I love your knitting store/cafe! I think that's a great idea.

And, you could support people eking out a living with goats, sheep, alpaca raised organically... and fair trade coffee... and your lovely soaps, etc. ... the people come in to shop and knit and sip... it's lovely!

I used to want to have a bookshop (new & used) which I would live above with my dogs. I imagined that I would set up my video editing equipment (it was bigger in the days of this dreaming than a computer which is all one really needs now) in the back and work while people browsed and read and sipped. And, I wanted to have happenings -- readings, performances, in April someone could stand in the store juggling books

I used to live in a shared house where a journal called 'The Journal of Wild Culture' was produced and we once had one of Canada's best actresses, Claire Coulter, perform Wallace Shawn's wonderful one person play, 'The Fever', in our living room. My dream was to have a bookshop where that sort of thing happened. Bookshops have gone the way of the dodo.

Anyway, may I teach meditation in your knitting shop/cafe/soap emporium?

Peace to you and yours,
Koan

 

[Jody]

Koan,

I think you should stop deleting the idiocy you keep editing out.

Probably make for some interesting reading.

I love your knitting store/cafe! I think that's a great idea.

And, you could support people eking out a living with goats, sheep, alpaca raised organically... and fair trade coffee... and your lovely soaps, etc. ... the people come in to shop and knit and sip... it's lovely!

I would love to do that!

When we were first married, Alan and I gave some thought to getting some land cheap further north in Ontario (much further north, at that time, they were selling acres of land for next to nothing -- though probably there was a REASON the land was for next to nothing, probably rough land).

We toyed with the idea of building a geodesic dome house (a la Mother Earth News -- very different in the olden days than it is now). Create our own electricity using a modified bicycle .

Get me a loom, and raise some llamas, for their hair (wool? no, hair) and use it to knit clothing, blankets, etc.

Grow our own food, sell some to nearby markets (though Lord knows, most of the land I mentioned may not have been near ... anything.)

We were in love with the idea but ... stayed in southwestern Ontario and raised a passle of kids instead, first in the country and then in a pokey little subdivision.

I used to want to have a bookshop (new & used) which I would live above with my dogs. I imagined that I would set up my video editing equipment (it was bigger in the days of this dreaming than a computer which is all one really needs now) in the back and work while people browsed and read and sipped. And, I wanted to have happenings -- readings, performances, in April someone could stand in the store juggling books

"Happenings" -- That word takes me back, didn't we used to talk about happenings like we'd talk about sit-ins and be-ins?

I used to live in a shared house where a journal called 'The Journal of Wild Culture' was produced and we once had one of Canada's best actresses, Claire Coulter, perform Wallace Shawn's wonderful one person play, 'The Fever', in our living room. My dream was to have a bookshop where that sort of thing happened. Bookshops have gone the way of the dodo.

Sounds pretty interesting. Back in the late 70's I lived in a shared house with a couple of people who opened a coffee house (called it "Catharsis") in a nearby city. The only coffee house in a city full of bars. Served herbal tea and coffee, homemade muffins and cookies, and had a string of folk musicians who would come and play on the weekends. It was a University town so there was a good supply of students looking for something different. Loved that.

Haven't experienced anything like that in a very long time.

Anyway, may I teach meditation in your knitting shop/cafe/soap emporium?

Please do. It would be wonderful.

 

[MEKoan]

I think it's time...

to dust off our fringed ponchos and figure out how to do some of those things we dreamed about back in the day.

I've long thought that some kind of intentional community, urban or rural, was necessary for the survival of many different types of people - artists, writers, the eco-minded, the ill, the gregarious...

It's not for everyone and not every situation would suit everyone but there are many ways to make it work that are sustainable in every sense of the word.

I was watching videos today about the huge number of homeless Americans living in Tent Cities and in their cars. We need to think out of the box.

Wait! You need to stay where you are!!!

By the by, in my wandering around here today I encountered your piece about the Universe encouraging you very enthusiastically and then backing off. I just love the honesty with which you write. If we do not write honestly, what's the point? You are such a good example!

Peas out,
Koan

ETA How do you know I don't edit to put more stuff in?!

 

[Lisa]

I've pet sat for llamas, worked in a coffee shop that on the side sold some books and worked in book shops that one the side sold coffee.

After all that, I'd say in some ways the coffee shop was funner, the used bookstore was cooler, the new bookstore was stiff, and the llamas I didn't mind when the owner got back in town. lol

I love animals, but llamas spit on you! Any animal that will spit on you and try to stomp your foot all at the same time, I can do without. hehehe

I'll come clerk in your shop Jody if you'll add in a book area too. I bet it would be a cool one. Jeremy might want to open a sandwich/soup counter in it too if that would be ok. We've day dreamed about that a bit. He likes making fancy sandwiches and they are usually pretty good. I can only imagine what he could put together if he had proper ingredients.

You know, we should all just open a mini-mall. lol Hmm.. I'll have to think of what I'd like to open for myself there. Possiby ... wait! I know! A puppy daycare!!!! wooo! yeah! That sounds sweet! hehehe

Lisa

 

[Jody]

Koan,

I loved fringed ponchos.

Peasant dresses, halters, kerchiefs, love beads (sounds silly now, I guess but they weren't then).

Bell bottoms that swept the ground, bare feet, anklets (oh yes, little girls those are NOT a new thing, we had 'em back in the day

I had a favourite Indian gauze top with tiny mirrors around the neckline and sleeves, surrounded by little embroidered flowers. Tied with little strings.

A long white Indian gauze number with a hood, and a big sunflower embroidered in gold across the front of the long skirt. **sigh**

Bluejeans with patches on their patches. Embroidered daisies. Beaded rings. Necklace made of apple seeds.

These are a few of my favourite things ...

Yes, my heart goes in the direction of the Retro future you describe.

You said,

Wait! You need to stay where you are!!!

Can you tell me what that means?

Re: Writing with honesty, I write because it's therapy for me, so it HAS to be the real stuff or it won't work. And I write for other people who might be going through something similar -- once again, has to be real or there's no point to it.

ETA How do you know I don't edit to put more stuff in?!

LOL

I really DON'T know that, do I?

 

[Jody]

I've pet sat for llamas, worked in a coffee shop that on the side sold some books and worked in book shops that one the side sold coffee.

After all that, I'd say in some ways the coffee shop was funner, the used bookstore was cooler, the new bookstore was stiff, and the llamas I didn't mind when the owner got back in town. lol

I love animals, but llamas spit on you! Any animal that will spit on you and try to stomp your foot all at the same time, I can do without. hehehe

Pet sat for llamas, huh? Bet that was an awful job. I was very disappointed to read all those years ago that llamas have foul tempers and a tendency to go ... rogue.

I'll come clerk in your shop Jody if you'll add in a book area too. I bet it would be a cool one. Jeremy might want to open a sandwich/soup counter in it too if that would be ok. We've day dreamed about that a bit. He likes making fancy sandwiches and they are usually pretty good. I can only imagine what he could put together if he had proper ingredients.

Definitely need a book area. We'd need books on cfs and psychoneuroimmunology (mind-body medicine for those of you with cfs brains) And books on organic stuff, green stuff, chakras, reiki, singing ... and anything else we want.

Jeremy could definitely man the food counter. All the cfs people hanging out for their knitting therapy need to be able to graze through the day. Will he cook me a roast though? (Deal breaker). And we'd have the healthiest ingredients. There is a place a half hour away that has organic produce, meats, kefir, etc. I haven't been able to afford to check them out yet, but ... one day.

You know, we should all just open a mini-mall. lol

That's exactly what I was thinking while I was reading Koan's post! LOL

Or start us a little village, like Zona's on her website.

Hmm.. I'll have to think of what I'd like to open for myself there. Possiby ... wait! I know! A puppy daycare!!!! wooo! yeah! That sounds sweet! hehehe

You could name it something cute like ... something about doggies ... maybe, I don't know that they're shaky on their legs ... that they're ... I don't know ... wobbly... That sounds just like something that might suit you.

My daughter-in-law Carmel would love to help with the doggies.

 

[jenbooks]

Koan, why don't you teach us here?
Start a thread and teach us how to meditate and be at peas.
Siriusly.

 

[Lisa]

Jody,

A roast, sure. I'll have a different type made each day, we'll use the leftovers in the sandwiches. If you get tired of roasts, we'll do some other cut of meat. Could name it "Carnivore's special of the Day" hehe

Of course Carmel could work at the "Wobblydog Palace" with me!

Lisa