This February I took a class that had me do some of the things I suggested above. Drawing a picture of your ideal day, thinking about things you wanted to be or enjoyed doing when you were a kid, reading things and seeing what themes pop up and stuff like that.
My perfect day had me having a bagle and coffee at my favorite coffeehouse on the outdoor patio, playing my musical instruments in the park, going for a hike, being with my parrots. Not something I can actually do for a living. When I was a kid I wanted to be an actress or a writer. I used to enjoy playing in the park behind my house. Reading a book that was full of imagery, I kept stopping at the parts about nature and wilderness. I connected the dots. Nature is important to me. It made me remember I had always wanted to hike the Pacific Crest Trail so I quit my job to do that.
I can't live on the PCT (not yet) but the experience was so wonderful I wrote a book about it (self-published my journal). Then I took a writing class (I always wanted to be a writer) and am thinking I want to learn business/copy/technical writing. I'm back to doing web development, but I'm doing it for myself not the Man, which means I get to go to my favorite coffeehouse and eat a bagle and coffee on the patio if I want. I'm even working part time at a bird-oriented pet store and also analyzing audio tapes of whales for a company with oil money. It all fell (still falling) into place once I connected the dots and took the first, most immediate step forward.
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