Merging Two Paths
I am currently on two paths. They share several things in common – but are still not the same.
I have a habit of being more than one thing at a time. Some of this has been a response to attempting to do two things at once. On some occasions, this has been about me working a “normal” job while pursuing a passion at the same time.
Over the past year, now, I have been working on a singular vision. I don’t have a “normal” job while pursuing my passion. Instead, I have been walking the path of my choosing.
To be fair, it’s a rocky path. Also, not even a little bit straight and full of obstacles. Challenges lie around nearly every bend, and this hasn’t yet landed me exactly where I desire to be.
But I am walking the path of my choosing. It has been very freeing in many ways. Yet still, it’s not a singular path, either.
I am on two paths. Both are part of my intent for how I desire to live my life. Yet they remain separated. It’s akin to railroad tracks. Heading in the same direction but forever just shy of five feet apart.
On the one path is my career as a professional writer. On the other, my identity as a business.
The writer
Every day I publish articles on Medium.com. Additionally, I am still placing two articles on The Ramblings of the Titanium Don and one on my professional website weekly.
I am finally publishing the first novel in my new sci-fi series. The Void Incursion – Book One – Opening Gambit comes out on Friday, May 8th. It joins the fantasy, Steampunk, and less-well-defined fiction and non-fiction I have previously published.
For a long time, I saw the different forms my writing took as different paths. Now, I have greater clarity and an ability to see all my writing work as one-in-the-same.
There are worlds of fiction inside my head that need to get out. I put them to the screen and potentially publish them to share. Further, I have learned a great deal about mindfulness, conscious reality creation, positivity, and other self-improvement, inspirational, and self-help notions I feel are worthy of sharing.
All of it originated inside my mind and I believe is worth putting out into the world at large.
While I have seen some success on this path, there is still room for growth. All of my work can reach a broader audience. Taking the steps to make that happen is an ongoing process.
This is the path I choose for myself. It may still be a work in progress – but that’s life. It is still satisfying and worthwhile to continue this pursuit.
The business
I have been working on my overall branding for several months now. To that end, I combined multiple domains to just one website. It makes it easier for me to be found and unified as one singular brand.
For the first time since I tried to run my own business, I am a true independent contractor. Granted, I have a title and business cards from the company I am contracting with – but still a contractor.
And my primary job with this company is writing. I write and edit blogs and pages for the website. Much of the work I do aside from that is copy editing.
This has also helped me to improve my Photoshop skills in creating some of the digital content, and I am gaining more and more experience with the ins and out of WordPress themes. I’ve even made use of that to improve all of MY websites.
Then there is the voice work. I have now recorded – in addition to my own 2 audiobooks – 15 audiobooks for ACX (thus available for Audible and Amazon). While these books are not the most spectacular works ever – they are work that I have done.
Writer, blogger, editor, podcaster, audiobook voice artist, worldbuilder, copywriter, and copyeditor. As a business, I do wear multiple hats – but they are interrelated.
Still, these two baths are more parallel to one another than I should like them to be. So how do I merge them?
Bringing two paths together as one
The key is to merge these paths inside my philosophy and in my own mind.
That requires mindfulness.
I alone am capable of being conscious of my thoughts, feelings, and actions. The awareness of my headspace, mindset, and overall psyche is unique to me alone. Nobody else can get inside my head, heart, and soul – but me.
The concept that I am walking two paths at once is a matter of perception on my part. I saw myself on these train tracks. That means I have the power to turn the tracks into a singular road or pathway for me to tread.
MJ Blehart is a singular being. Writer and business, as such, are thus one-in-the-same. I am the corporate entity, sole-proprietorship, entrepreneur, et al. When I can conceive of myself as being that one entity on these paths I can merge them together.
How? By removing the division in my mind. It is on me to accept myself and my path as one entity with the same goal and taking the same journey.
What is the goal and what is the journey? The goal is to maintain independence and make my living on my own terms. Corporate America and I have never gotten along well – this has always been the best option for me. The goal is to earn my living as the business and all the aspects that make that up.
The journey is all the bits and pieces that I experience along the way. Some – like my current contract gig – will be unexpected and amazing. Others – like the pandemic – will be less helpful. But every step of the journey is a new experience and a step closer to the goal.
Is this selfish given the current world situation?
No. Despite the insanity and uncertainty of the world as it is in the middle of this pandemic, life goes on. It is altered and changed by the circumstances – but has not stopped.
Of course, some people have been impacted by this and are suffering on multiple levels. I empathize with them – but I can do nothing for them by denying my own life and my paths. The journey goes on – and the goal doesn’t go away.
The future is always uncertain – more now than ever. However, I am still here – still alive – and still get to choose to be mindful, consciously create my reality, and do all I can to experience life as fully as possible. That’s not a selfish act – it is, in fact, self-preservation.
Are you still choosing your paths during these uncertain times?
This is the four-hundred and thirty-seventh article for my Pathwalking philosophy. These weekly essays are ideas for – and my personal experiences with – mindfulness and walking along the path of life to consciously create reality. I share this journey as part of my desire to make a difference in this world along the way. I further desire to empower myself and my readers with conscious reality creation.
Thank you for joining me. Feel free to re-blog and share this.
The first year of Pathwalking, including expanded ideas, is available here. My additional writing, both fiction and non-fiction, are available here.
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