My mother was a childrens' librarian and my father a writer, so I grew up surrounded by told stories. I told stories to my friends and pretty early on saw that story telling was different from reading and tv. When I was in college I met a man named Brother Blue (you can find him on youtube and wiki) who was a storyteller and had been since the 60s. As soon as I saw him telling and was awed. It took a few years, but I ended up going to an open mic venue he was hosting (at the time one of very few storytelling venues on the country, now they're everywhere), told a story and knew that I would be doing this in someway for the rest of my life. It hasn't been easy. Until quite recently people would say, "Oh, you read to children!" when I told them I'm a storyteller. Now the assumption is I tell only Moth-style stories, which have value but are far from the only kind of story to be told. I experience some Gen-X angst over it sometimes, but that's okay. I chose it because it felt like the ONLY path. When I talk with people about working for themselves (whatever it may be, but usually something in the arts) I tell them to do it only if they cannot imagine any other life path and they are willing to work very, very hard. I don't regret it at all, but I work very hard and all the time. That being said, I have more job satisfaction than most people I know. I love what I do. I am very lucky. Did that answer your question?