"Ob la di, Ob la da, life goes onnnnn, brah!"

Looks like we're back in business, kids.
Here are some things I've learned lately:

“Once social change begins, it cannot be reversed. You cannot uneducate the person who has learned to read. You cannot humiliate the person who feels pride. You cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore. We have seen the future, and the future is ours.” -Cesar Chavez


"A man is rich in proportion to the amount of things which he can afford to let alone." -Henry David Thoreau


"From all your herds, a cup or two of milk,
From all your granaries, a loaf of bread,
In all your palace, only half a bed:
Can man use more?  And do you own the rest?"  -Ancient Sanskrit Poem


"If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be.  Now put the foundations under them."  -Henry David Thoreau


The more you say you cannot do the something, the more you will believe it.  The more you believe it, the more truly you will be unable to do it.


On a separate note...
I'm planning the writing of an ebook.  What is something you'd like to learn/read about?  I'd love any ideas you have to offer!

Why do we do it?

What are colleges and universities?
Institutions that teach you in certain disciplines, and after you learn enough, you receive some sort of degree in that subject of learning.
Sounds good.
But would you trade that for a life of college payments?
Many, many years of debt.
Sounds not as good.

So, what is the real value of college?
A degree?
What does that get you?
A good job?
Well, what is a good job?
A job that pays well.
What is entailed in "pays well?"
I suppose a good bit more than minimum wage. Enough to live off of. Enough to support a wife/husband and 2.5 children (Who has ever had half a kid? Really?) Enough to live comfortably.
Who says you need a lot of money to do that, though?
Well society, I suppose. Good old society... But as mom would say, if society told you to jump off a bridge, would you do it?

I think a college education is overrated. Who wants to go broke for many years for a well paying job? And in this economy, there's absolutely no guarantee that master's degree is going to land you an automatic job for life. In fact, quite the contrary.
There is nothing you can learn in college that you could not learn in a library, online, or in a class at the Y.
Not to mention that all those essays you wrote will do you absolutely no good once you're in the "real world." You'll actually have to relearn how to write. Nobody wants to read a formal essay with no contractions and a bunch of big fancy words that no one understands except your college professors.

So my question is, why do we do it?
Why do we take 4-N years out of our lives to learn things for tens of thousands of dollars per semester that is knowledge that can be gotten for free or much, much cheaper?
Granted, if you are interested in a medical field or some other such very detailed occupation, a college education can be quite helpful.
But is it really worth the money you'll spend?

What do you think? Is it worth it?

I'm learning...

"If you make it, they will come."

So I've started to notice a trend here.

I didn't sell two lightbulb vases to the same person in Australia until I had a box big enough to accommodate both vases.

I didn't sell vases two days in a row until I had ordered and received a shipment of appropriately sized cardboard boxes.

I only sold one inkwell when I had an extra inkwell made and ready to go.

I didn't get an international order until I was ready with the customs forms.

So... Every time I take a step of faith and order boxes to ship stuff that I haven't sold, or make a few extra lightbulb vases, or get customs forms, I'll make a sell that has to do directly with what I got/made in faith.

Today, after realizing this, I ordered some small boxes just for my bracelets, earrings, and necklaces I make. I also ordered some boxes long enough to accommodate the length of my pheasant feather pens. I even got some lightbulbs in the beginning stages of being transformed into vases and inkwells.

Let the sales begin.

A beginning:

Well, I'm starting this blog to share my process of redesigning and creating items that I either use to my own advantage, or share with the world via Etsy.
I also may share bits of diet-related ramble or just life philosophies.
It's a journey and an adventure; we'll see how it goes!
Feel free to share your own experiences and ideas along the way. I love hearing from people!

Here's to the adventure,
Star