Weaving as a Vocation

I've been thinking a lot lately about what I'd like to do when I'm finished with the dissertation.  I guess that makes sense since I'm almost finished with the dissertation.  While I've experienced a lot of down time with it recently (frenzy of work, then nothing for weeks, more frenzy...that sort of thing), it has occupied my brain and energy.  I'm "saving myself" for when I need to be in a frenzy and then recovering after the frenzy more than you'd think.

But, since I'm almost finished, I've been thinking how I will spend my time.  I'd really like to take back up my piano lessons.  Will try to find someone who teaches evenings or weekends.  I've also toyed with the idea of getting a French horn and learning to play again and possibly joining a local orchestra or band or something.  The one thing I miss about high school is the band.

Mostly, I've thought about whether I could quit the real world job and enter the studio--could I weave as a vocation?  The simple and easy answer to that is absolutely not.  I'd have to charge at least twice what I do and weave at least twice as much...and then get into a market where things were actually selling at a rate to support my yarn habit.  There's always the opportunity to open a store and see if I could make that fly.  I think in a different market than Hattiesburg I could, but I'd need money to set up a shop and I just don't have that.  So many things to think about, dream about, and hope that one day I can make it happen.

But I really would enjoy the opportunity to weave as a vocation--make it truly what I DO everyday.  Lately I've been dreaming of woven fabrics.  Last night's was awesome--this spotty white lacey thing.  This tells me that my brain is finally resting and coming to its own ideas of what I should be doing.

And how the PhD has anything to do with what I want to do with my life is a mystery I'm trying to solve on a daily basis...seriously, I should be finishing my studio piece if I were wanting to weave as a vocation.

Ah the curvy twists and turns that life takes.  And if you want to think WAY back, look at this blog post from January 2008 shortly after I got my loom.