Changing Careers & Soul Searching

For any of you that know me or for those of you who have been reading my blog for any amount of time know, I've been struggling with happiness with my work situation.

The past 3 1/2 years of being stuck at a desk has been interminably long and I firmly believe that I was not meant to be doing that. After being a stage manager for a decade, being stuck at a desk (although it is still in a theater) is incredibly boring to say the least. Truth be told though, there isn't much going on the road these days (and I'm enjoying being home anyway) and there really isn't much in the way of theater where I'm currently living. So, this leads me to a difficult decision: Stay in my field and remain miserable or start from scratch and completely change my career.

Changing careers is an extremely daunting thought. I thought I was doing what I wanted to do when I grew up and am now finding that I need to rethink that. Because I had been successful in theater up to this point, I honestly never really gave much thought to a back up plan. When I was a child, I thought about being an entertainment lawyer, or a vet, or something to do with computers, or even a psychologist. Really, I can't say that any of that is intriguing to me anymore.

Instead, I find myself being drawn to all kinds of alternative careers.
~I still very much want to make a go of selling my maille at faires, but I need to be able to support myself while I prepare to do that. In my current job, I have plenty of time to blog, list items, and twitter during the day but making time to build up inventory is a bit of a challenge. In addition, it also seems like every time there's a craft fair in my area that I want to do, I'm stuck having to work that weekend.
~I'm very much into natural health and thought that a career in herbalism sounds fascinating. Of course, that would require schooling because I'd have a lot to learn and would have to get certified. Again, because of my current job schedule, attending classes would be difficult because I need to be available whenever there are shows.
~Welding is something that has sparked my interest, but from a creative standpoint. I don't think I'd want to work in construction.
~Humane Law Enforcement through the ASPCA is something that I would feel passionate about, but those positions are currently only available in New York.
~Work at a women's shelter is something else that my heart would be in, but from the research I have done, it seems like only volunteer positions are currently available.

It seems like nothing that I'm interested in doing would earn me much of a living, but I think these completely nontraditional jobs would make me happy. Thing is, we've got a mortgage to pay...

By the end of the summer, a decision may be made for me. The people in the ivory tower where I work have more or less said that someone in my department will be let go. This is frustrating because we're all walking around on egg shells and have no way of planning our lives with this threat hanging over us. Even if I am not the one that's let go, I'm still going to continue to research my options. 3 1/2 years of desk work making me unhappy is reason enough to keep soul searching for something better.

So, I'd like to hear from all of you. Have any of you had to switch careers? How did you make it happen? Was it something that you always had in the back of your mind that you wanted to try? I'd love to hear your stories.