Changing careers at 6 years into a job, is it realistic? (update)

My layoff made me rethink whether to stay in my field. Any experience at all would help. My family is supportive but nervous. Did you take a pay cut?

Try a small project in the new field before committing. It told me a lot about whether I would enjoy it.

Thanks for writing this out. I went through something close to it 11 months ago, and it got easier once I kept a simple log of every call and form.