Thursday, September 29, 2011

let the chips fall where they may....

The change I want to see in the world starts with me- what can I do differently and what can I do to be better at it? One thing I have done is start my own business and support other local businesses. I have stopped buying new things and have started repurposing old things. I ask myself do I really need it or is it a want I have learned from being a consumer all of my life?

I know I just posted this morning, but this has been on my mind a lot recently....if you know me at all and have talked to me in the past month, you know I have been debating leaving my part time job to focus on my full time sewing business, ROBOT Inside. I am passionate about sewing, I love repurposing and I make some killer things! I love my stuff, I would buy it. I have a shop on Etsy and I made a commitment a year ago to buy local. I shop local, my groceries come from within a 100 mile radius of our thriving metropolis. I do not go to chain restaurants. I support local artists and businesses. I am a member of local Etsy groups as well. I have started volunteering at my children's schools. My family eats healthy because I am committed to cooking our 3 meals a day.

I support local music and play, too! I go to venues that support local music. I do not support venues that ask musicians to pay to play.

One of the big issues facing my family today is health insurance. I work at a corporate coffee shop because they provide health benefits for part time workers. Over the summer, I was off work due to a work injury and we no longer are covered by my health insurance. It leaves us in a strange place of limbo. The whole reason I work there is for the insurance, not the pay. So....we have been crunching numbers and talking to everyone we can about how to operate without health insurance. We have done it before, but, back then, we didn't own two thriving businesses and lived well below the poverty line. Today, that is not the case. the only thing holding me back from running into my business full on is health insurance. Is it worth it? I could show you the numbers that say it is the biggest scam running in America today, besides perhaps oil.

Let me put it simply- if I want big business out of my government and out of my life, can I let the fear they have instilled in me and my people force me to choose because of health care? It's the big what if that is so scary- what if I get cancer? what if we get hit by a car? what if i get really, really sick? well, so what if I do. I'll set up a payment plan with the doctors like I have for years and pay it off a little at a time. They may even negotiate with me if I have cash in hand. So, the fear is what if and the name of the game is health insurance. Do I choose freedom and happiness? If I do and if lots of others like me do it, we sink the ship that is health insurance, don't we? If we all pulled out, they wouldn't have all the cash to pay for politicians. Pharmaceutical companies might not control the media and I may not have to see an ad for a pill promising to fix what doesn't really ail me.

Can I get out from under the corporate brainwashing storm I have been exposed to my entire life and take a chance on my dream? You bet your sweet bippy I can!

2 comments:

  1. Interesting thoughts! I left teaching "early" because I had enough of the "system"...and I know there are others who are afraid to do the same thing because they feel they need the "benefits". It's scary being on your own...but I think it's worth it!!

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