Your RV Based Cottage Industry Will Grow Your Life as You...

... Build your RV Based Cottage Industry around the passions in your life. For me That is key. To not only make a living... but to earn it in a way that I can say; "I can't believe they pay me to do this!" :-)

Why bother creating just another mind dulling drudgery to burden your soul with? People! That would change nothing!

How-some-ever!... If you start out with something for which you have a passion... something for which you have a special skill or knowledge, that also puts a smile on your face, that jumps you out of bed in the morning - AND - you can work out a way to shape it into a cottage industry that actually produces a decent living to boot... How can Life get better?

What I'm talkin' 'bout here... is a basic change in the way we all think. What I want to do is do what the founders of Etsy.com talk about when they say; "We want to build a "New" economy!" Yes Sir! That is exactly what I'm talkin' about... Something completely new. A different way of looking at my basic goals in life.

I'd like to see the whole country reshaped by Cottage Industry!

For generations now, the tradition has been... go to school... learn a "trade" or a "profession"... pound away at its' soul sucking drudgery, your whole life, save your money... until you are old... hoping all along the way, as you help make the 'man' ever richer, that you'll stay healthy enough, long enough... to one day be able to enjoy some of the riches your 'indentured servitude' produced.

I truly believe, for those that have the cajones to chase the dream, a cottage industry mentality is a big part of the solution; A solution to correct what I see is wrong with our current 'economy'... and our own personal lives.

Our lives seem to be largely measured in terms of our productivity, and our usefulness to the 'system', and when that system finds a way to turn a nickle by kicking us loose... It cut us off without a thought... or a care. We're thrown out like an old boot.

In my view... unless the system serves US, it is the System that is without value... and I for one am tee total willing to chuck It... Only I will be thinkin'... and I will be 'caring'! 'cause folks? Payback is Sweet! :-)

The way to fix things... in this Ol' Cowboy's opinion... is to change up the order of a couple parts... Such as in setting the emotional and spiritual fulfillment of our Work as our first priority and kicking the income it produces into second place.

Let's face it... no matter what we do, we still have to make a living, so we can't simply ignore profitability... but it should be, within reason, secondary to shining up our lives with the pure joy of just LIVING... and being able to have something that contributes to that joy, as our Work.

Heidi and I grew weary of the one-way loyalty demanded by most employers, and more than 12 years ago opened our own little store. While not now "Home Based", it started there (we now have a regular store front)... and there are ways it could be made so...

I know of several that are. Though her Bead business grew beyond our home, it still allows us a Freedom and Security (within reason) we'd never had as 'employees'.

Heidi's passion for Beading, which had supplemented our ranch wages for a few years, soon became the Lions Share of our income... and continues to be. It is now supplemented by the ever improving rewards from my growing "Cowboy Publishing" empire! :-) which I'm building to take me away from the part-time employment I still endure.

My point? If a Cowboy and his Lady can build a "Foundation" under their "Castle in the Sky"... You can too! It's not a pipe dream. It is reality... Don't lose sight of that... and don't let go of it.

... another of my "Buts"... But! I'm not going to tell you it's easy... It's even scary. Stepping away from the imagined 'Security' of that pay check every two weeks will kick your heart rate up a mite... Until that feeling growing inside you, from being your own master, takes hold and your new life starts to shine with a new strength.

... and that feeling growing inside? That my friends is called FREEDOM!

I'd suggest starting your home based business "on the side"... Give yourself the time to build it up and wean yourself away from the controls and "Imagined" security of the Old system. We did that, sort of... 'bout 50/50... I still had a ranch job that kept us in a cabin... but, herself, just stepped off and never looked back!

That store, the Bead Cache was our answer. Our "Cottage Industry"... NOT... bustin' hump for the 'man' for forty years, hopin' to retire... I make the claim that coupling a Cottage Industry with whatever your Passion is... Building a sustainable, creative income... that, for the most part, produces the frugal needs of your life... as you need it, can be Your answer.

Take away the power of a corrupt system to lay you off whenever they decide you're not profitable enough. Take the skills and knowledge you've collected... apply them to something that you are passionate about and start your own, home based business that you control... that rewards you for your effort... and from which you cannot be 'layed off'.

I'm not saying your employment and security is guaranteed... If you make bad decisions you can still go out of business... how-some-ever... with a home based "cottage industry" you put the final control... in your own hands.

Why do I keep repeating that word... Passion?

Because, as I've said before, I believe that feeding your Spirit, and Uplifting your soul... is as deeply important as putting beans on the table... maybe even more so.

Right there is a big part of what I'm talkin' about when I say; "We need to build a New Economy."... We need to combine... We need to integrate, art, and music, creativity and passion, all that stimulates our imaginations... into what we do to to create an income.

The Cottage Industry we each choose, to build our lives into something we can all call, Shining Times... needs to be a Creative Income.

It breaks my heart to see a most precious friend of mine, slavin' away at a job that's eating her soul... from the inside. I'll be a happier Ol' Buster if I can succeed at coaxing her to take her artistic creativity... her courage... along with her basic joy in life... and harness it, to create her Own... Cottage Industry... and in the process, gain a control that raises a joy in her own life, she has never known.

My hope is... that a few of the readers of this lil' bit of word butcherin', will see a light 'click on' as a result of their reading here... That they will find the inspiration, somewhere, in what I've written, to build their own cottage industry. Now that, would surely be something to brag on! :-)

There is no shortage of opportunities out there to be had... and if you listen to the most reliable, and sensible of 'economists', you'll hear 'em all, at one time or another, saying the same thing.

... and that "same thing" all comes out, in one form or another... just like this; "Hard Times are just about the best times to start a business."

... and why is that? Because when times get tough, and folks get scared... 'Other' people run scared... They step away from business. They lay off employees and cut inventories... trying to "ride out" the tough times by pulling back...

Their fear is your opportunity! Because in surrendering to it... and pulling back... they leave great portions of their customer base... and Your Potential Customers... exposed and unfulfilled. While they are backing off... moving away from their customers... You come running in with your start up Cottage Industry... scoop up their old, abandoned customers... and never look back!

In hard times... you find the least competition. When good times return, you're right there, ready to prosper in the sunshine!

Step up, with whatever home based business your passion leads you to create... and watch your Life bloom like a desert field after a spring rain!

Now a couple of things to finish off this lil' 'essay'...

One of the 'mistakes' we made... and are working to correct is the utilization of Credit... Credit, my friends, is like fire... a dangerous servant... and a fearful master! Avoid it... protect yourself from it as if it was a thief... 'cause that is exactly what it is...

Credit is a cancer that will consume all your Cottage Industry if you fail to keep it under rigid control... Debt has slowed the construction of our "Castle in the Sky". We are closing in on its' defeat... but it is a tough fight... and not yet won. It is a fight best avoided.

Second, is your cost of living... adoption of a Frugal Lifestyle makes the creation of a Cottage Industry that much easier. It just makes sense. The less you require to sustain your basic life, the more you can turn back into strengthening your growing Home Based Business... and the more flexibility you have to pursue your passions, rather than dollars.

So... think long and hard... make a list of your skills, your knowledge, your special talents, Your Passions. Hidden in there, is the idea... the concept, for what your own personal, Cottage Industry, is going to be.

Use a Home Based Business to Build the Foundation Under Your Castle in the Sky