I like to have freedom. I like to do my own thing.

What does that mean at this moment? I want to be able to customize and do whatever I want on my blog. I feel constrained by what I am able to do within my free WordPress.com blog. Each time I try to expand and add functionality, I find I am not able to do so because I am using WordPress.com. So I have decided to figure out what I need to do to switch to WordPress.org.

My questions:

• Do I need to learn CSS? I found an online site that has exercises to help you learn CSS. Am I am able to easily do it without learning any new technical language?
• Can I easily shift my content from WordPress.com to WordPress.org through my domain provider?
• Do most domains have an easy interface connected to WordPress.org?
• If I switch to WordPress.org, will it be hard to customize my site? Should I hire someone to customize it?
• Is there anything I would miss if I move to WordPress.org? Should I stay on WordPress.com?

Those of you that are bloggers out there in the blogosphere, what are you doing? There seem to be so many different widgets and functionality I can partake of if I expand my horizons away from WordPress.com.

Please share what you know and have learned. I need tips, ideas, and comments on taking this leap.