Reasons Why

I recently quit my full-time, well-paying job in pursuit of my dream to own my own visual communications firm. It's slow going so far, but I've barely gotten my feet wet.

I've been telling people that there will never be a better time for me to try this. We're financially secure thanks to money from the wedding, we have very cheap rent on a home we adore, and I've got enough experience to know I'll be employable should this situation not work out. It's great. But everyone, and I mean everyone, assumes that when I say that I mean that I want to try this before we have kids.

And so many people are telling me that they wish they could take this risk. But they can't. They have responsibilities. They have children.

My question is this -- if i'm putting so much into this right now, how would it make sense to have children and hope to maintain my career? This is going to take constant effort. It's not the sort of thing I would be able to manage part-time, even if I do get to the point where I'll have a staff of some sort. If I want to live the life I want, there's no room for children.

I know there are plenty of women out there who manage careers and children, but I don't want their life. I don't smoke because I can't stand the idea of my life revolving around something. I know it's not the same, but… I don't know. Everyone just assumes that I'm getting this out of my system, or that I'm doing this because I want to be a stay-at-home mom or something. It's so not. This is my dream. It's a dream, and it doesn't leave room for having children. And that's ok.

I just think it's interesting that so many people really do think that kids will be the next step in my life. And it's interesting that it doesn't seem like it will ever be an option. And again, that's ok. It's what I want.