And all that I knew was the hole in my shoe
Which was letting in water
Lyric from a 1967 Traffic song.
Ideas come from the strangest places, and it was the hole in my shoe (actually, my walking boot!) that prompted me to develop the idea for this project.
A little background
My name is Dave Fowler and two years ago I put an 18 year career in public service on hold to be a Stay At Home Dad to our four children. It turns out that my wife returning to work full time was a better option for us, and in so many ways it remains the best option.
I love being a Stay At Home Dad. It’s rewarding, fulfilling and a real privilege to be such a direct part of my children’s everyday life.
From a lifestyle perspective this choice has been a great one. From a financial perspective this choice has been a very tough one.
It was brought home to me only a few weeks ago while I was walking the dogs in the forest and sprung a leak in one of my walking boots.
Walking with wet feet is an unpleasant experience but one I’ve since had to put up with because I didn’t feel I could justify buying a new pair of boots.
These leaky boots have been a constant reminder at how uncomfortable it feels when money is tight.
Over the last 2 years I’ve made numerous attempts at earning an income online, but for various reasons I haven’t quite been able to make it work and I felt I’d come to the point where I’d run out of options.
Until about five weeks ago, I was pretty much resolved to ending my career break and returning to work. Not the worst option in the world and pretty darn good compared to those people who are struggling to find work. But it’s not what I want. I’ve found what I want to do and that’s to play a full role in family life – If I return to work I’ll lose that.
I recently read a great book written by Tim Brownson and John P. Streleky called How To Be Rich And Happy in which I was encouraged to examine my personal values, talents and strengths. The exercise was designed to reveal how I might be able to live a happy life in alignment with my values, and to me that means finding a way to earn a living that fits around my family life.
I’ll be honest and say that in doing so, I really couldn’t see how my core values or qualities as a person could lead me to earn a living while remaining a stay-at-home dad. My ‘real life’ skills don’t readily transfer to the online world. Never-the-less, what I’d read had lodged in the back of my mind, it kept coming back to me and triggered me to keep thinking.
Here’s what happened five weeks ago
So one very snowy afternoon as I walked the dogs in the forest, my feet were freezing cold and to make it worse one of my feet was also soaking wet thanks to the hole. I was trying to work out how I was going to afford to buy a new pair of walking boots.
As often I’ve done over the past two years, I kept churning over ideas in my head, but it just wasn’t coming to me.
I was fed up and I just wanted to get home but I made a last minute decision to stop at the store on the way. As I walked out of the store and back to my car I saw a lone female driver and her car stuck in the snow.
She made a few attempts to move the car but she couldn’t get any traction. I walked over and offered to help. Fortunately I was prepared and had a shovel in the back of my car (I really didn’t want to get stuck in the forest!).
I dug her car out of the snow and she got underway. She didn’t stop to thank me but she waved and smiled. And that was all I needed.
I felt good.
I felt really good!
I’d remembered what I was good at and what I enjoyed… helping other people.
I enjoy helping other people
Having spent nearly two decades in a vocational career helping people on a daily basis, I decided then and there that being a stay-at-home dad didn’t have to mean I couldn’t continue to help others.
The problem was, I still had no idea how to do it – but what I’d read in Tim and John’s book, kept coming back to me.
I was reminded of my financially challenged situation again when I read an article by a friend of mine named Tara Cain. Tara published a blog post about donating to a project providing boxes of emergency equipment for Haiti following the devastating earthquake there.
I desperately wanted to show my support and donate but I thought of all the things I needed to buy just for everyday living, including replacement walking boots. I felt terrible that I couldn’t contribute and I knew that if I had the money, I would have done so without a second thought.
I need your help
I’ll continue this story in my next post, but I’ll leave you with this:
I’m going to need your help. The help doesn’t need to be financial, it could be help through supporting this site by passing the details on to friends, sharing the site on social networks or simply visiting the site and leaving comments and encouragement.
If you feel you could help, please continue to read.
Thank you.
Dave
Pictures:
Boot crinklecrankle.com
Car Glen Bowman
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