Commercialism

I've asked before but nobody answered. What do you really think about commercialism on blogs? Do you hate me for being an Amazon associate? Will that prevent you from linking to me? Could it be a reason that you would not look at my blog if you like it otherwise? Do you ever buy things from ads on blogs?

Here's the way I see it: There are lots of blogs that are hosted on blogspot or various free servers, and they have advertising on them that the blog owner has no control over. Sometimes it's pop-up ads. Some of these servers are notoriously slow to load. I pay for server space, and the hosting quality is pretty good. Although I intended to use this space to promote my farm and fiber business, and I do some of that, my life is taking a different direction and I'm just not getting as much fiber stuff done as I would like. If you're on the market for fiber, or for sheep, I do have some available! But I have to pay the bills somehow. Just so you know, Amazon doesn't come close to paying the bills. I haven't sold enough stuff for them to even be issued a check. I do like books though, and I actually like seeing what books come up on the ads on my page. Sometimes I find out about new books that way in my areas of interest. The ads are all down the side of the site, so they don't get in the way of anything. You don't have to look at them if you don't want to.

So, what do you think? I could use some answers. For some reason, I keep getting the impression that it isn't okay to try to make a living from things we enjoy. My husband feels bad thinking about charging anyone to play the bagpipes when they ask, even though he would have to take off half a day from work to do it. A friend of mine is good at Reike, but can't bring herself to charge people for the healing she is able to give them. When I was trying to make money at various home business programs - everything from selling kitchen tools to coordinating international exchange students - I felt so bad every time I had to ask someone to buy something, host a party, open their home to one of my students, etc. because even though I belived what I was offering was worth it, I felt guilty trying to make money or asking people to help me make money. Trying to run a farm goes the same way - nobody is going to give me hay and the supplies I need for free, but they sure don't want to pay anything for my animals or products either, and I feel bad for wanting to get enough income out of it to be able to afford to keep going, let alone to expand and improve or have any extra for my own support.

Do you ever feel this way? Where is this guilt coming from? Please let me know what you think. I don't think it's just me, but I can't be sure. I could use a little feedback here. Thanks!