>LAST EDITED ON 07-03-06
>AT 03:23 AM (EST)
>
>I have no problem with anyone
>selling anything they want on
>eBay and that includes all
>the starting over women.
>It has absolutely nothing to
>do with me!

Sure it does. You are a potential "buyer."

It's an
>easy outlet for anyone who
>has something to sell.
>And beauty is in the
>eye of the beholder.
>If I'm not interested in
>something or someone I don't
>bother looking at their stuff!
> Nor will I critique
>it or a buyer...just because
>I don't want it doesn't
>mean someone else is wrong
>to value it. If
>they like it, they like
>it! That doesn't mean
>they have to buy it.
> Or want to buy
>it. Or even think
>about buying it.

Except, it is for sale. That's the point.
>
>The comment "able to create art
>without any understanding of technique,
>perspective, composition or color" only
>makes me remember the artwork
>that has sold for thousands
>of dollars that is "created"
>by apes and elephants!

I wouldn't buy that, either.

>Hmmm...lots of understanding there....and on
>the part of the buyers!

I don't expect apes and elephants to understand that they need to support themselves in a practical manner while learning how to be artists. Somebody is already feeding them. They can both eat for free and paint all day long. That's part of my point, too. >
>
>All kinds of crap has sold
>deemed to be "art" by
>some "learned" critic. Same
>with "inventive" music!

It does amaze me what people do with their money.
>
>Christina is working at a job;
>she is selling off some
>childhood stuff and some of
>her "art". So what?!

True, that is entrepreneurship. However, Christina will not survive on selling off her belongings and her "art" nor will she sufficiently support her son on these earnings. For someone who had a goal of "Drop the Hustle" would it kill Christina to find a regular job with health benefits and a 401K plan to SEE what THAT feels like? If she was willing to put the time in behind a desk, or some other regular job, I might support her artistic endeavors. Definitely would be more likely than I am NOW. Since Christina is still "hustling" (because she doesn't WANT to have steady work imho) I will *not* support her "art" and I think anyone who does is helping Christina NOT "Start Over." That's what.

> She's learning while she
>does it, and who knows,
>maybe someday she will make
>more than a few dollars
>at it.

Someday maybe. Now? No.

I certainly
>don't know what her life
>is like now, what she
>does, how much money she
>has,

I have a good guess.

and I would never
>try to tell her how
>to run her life any
>more than I would want
>someone critiquing my life,

You did not put your life on a Reality TV show.

as
>my life is extremely unusual
>and does not fit most
>people's idea of the "norm".
> So what?! That's
>my life, my business.

Again, you are correct. However, again, you did not put your life on a Reality TV show. Christina did. Fair game.
>
Writing, painting, music creation...it's
>all over the place and
>very hard to wrench a
>living out of. But
>doing these crafts, the attempts
>at music, the dreams of
>being a writer....they satisfy a
>place in one's soul, a
>place where dreams live, and
>where life is everything you
>wish it were.

True. I am both a painter and a writer myself. However, I also am a mother and work as an EMT to eat, pay bills, etc.. My dream does not include poverty and homelessness. That doesn't mean that I do not believe in my talents. I do. I also understand finances. Since I haven't "made it" YET I understand the importance of being able to work a regular job (which isn't a usual job, either, but a necessary one) so that I can do things like go to a doctor or a dentist without all my savings going to paying obscenely high out of pocket expenses. Then again, I never claimed to be "Dropping the Hustle" either. True. Christina is no longer hooking or hustling chips. That's something I will give her credit for. Why is she so RESISTANT to finding regular WORK for awhile? (until she DOES "make it") Her attire for her job interview was abominable. She was told that (and acted surprised) She was late. Her speech was atrocious. Her resume was ridiculous. I see Christina's attempts at art being a way to AVOID having to fix anything about herself in order to be successful in a "real job." That's NOT "Starting Over."

Some
>few break through and do
>well, but most remain in
>the hobbyist realm. So
>what?! Let them live,
>let them breathe, let them
>dream. Their life is
>their reality.

Their reality is based on the good and bad choices they make in their lives. I am an artist, too. I do not believe Christina is making GOOD choices. I believe someone who cared about Christina would help her with interviewing skills, etc. and encourage her to WORK while she developed as an artist. Art supplies cost money, too. What will she do when she's out of money? How many belongings does she have to sell? What other kind of hustling might she do for art supplies, etc.?

Honestly? It's HARDER to be an entrepreneur in some ways than it is to work at a regular job. The difference? Entrepreneurs are accountable to themselves, their customers, and the IRS. Is Christina afraid of having a boss?
>
>That's where some things they learned
>at SO may come in
>handy, to differentiate between what
>is real (authentic) and what
>is some one else's idea
>of real.

Nobody is going to argue that money is both real and authentic when the rent is due, you go to the grocery store to buy food, and your kid is looking at colleges. That's my point. I want Christina not to struggle for those things. I want CHRISTINA to not want Christina to struggle for those things. I don't see that now.

What someone else
>may think about one's life
>is over in that other
>person's reality world and has
>nothing to do with one's
>own life.

I suppose that depends on what government assistance Christina will end up on based on her poor work choices. (I've been there, and learned that the HARD way.) I have no problem with Christina being an artist. She needs to be practical first. That's all.

It doesn't
>matter what someone else thinks
>about your life because they
>are not you and never
>will be.

Unless you are an entrepreneur. Then it absolutely matters what other people think of your product. They don't need to be YOU, or even Like *you* (Christina in this case) they need to like what you are selling. In this case? What I think matters, because I'm not buying what she's selling. That's business, not personal.

Again, the only real way that people can support Christina is to buy her stuff. That's what she wants, anyway. Not kudos. Not white light to the universe, whatever. She wants MONEY. That's it.