The Two Paths

Life is a journey but that doesn't say enough, does it? In his book The Two Paths, Steven Fidler shares how, in a single night, his life shifted from graduating college with honors and a bright future, to unexpectedly losing his sight, altering his journey forever.
With all future dreams lost, inability to find employment and impending poverty, coupled with the loss of connection to the world around him. Steven spiraled into anxiety, panic attacks, and self-destructive behaviors. The dark night of the soul does offer a light at the end of the tunnel, however, and it is this that Steven is offering whoever chooses to share this journey through his eyes.
The Two Paths offers a humorous yet profound look at struggle and how all of life has patterns. We all go on our own unanticipated journeys in some way or another. That said, all of life is happening for our true benefit. For Steven, it was his blindness that taught him to see that ultimately there is only one single problem that we all share, and the solution to any problem is already built into every problem for each and every one of us. We just have to learn a new way to see.

Steven Fidler was born and raised in southwestern Pennsylvania. He was part of a small family dynamic with one brother, a mom and dad, and a family dog. He expected to carve out a similar life to his father...to make a decent living, get a house, and make a small family of his own. Life had other plans, however. Steve ended up unexpectedly going blind, struggling with anxiety and depression, and ultimately finding that all of life is a gift through a journey that he could never have imagined.He now lives in Vermont along with his favorite person and explores the strange and amazing things that life has to offer. Things like reiki, martial arts, and a host of esoteric practices seeking a deeper understanding of a world that is hiding in plain sight. You can find him at the local tea house, or at the Indian and Thai restaurants, enjoying good food and conversation with close friends and family.

: Rachel Lorraine is a visual artist based in Los Angeles, California. A life-long creative, never without a pencil in hand, Rachel was self-taught-primarily exploring her preferred mediums of oil painting, digital art, and photography. Honing her craft in the LA art scene, she refined her own definitive style of portrait surrealism combined with abstract symbolism she is known for today.

Andrea Leigh Ptak's philosophy: The words-the message-matter. The visuals-the typography, layout, images, and colors-all work together to enhance the message. From 1974-81 she worked for a variety of firms in the communications industry, including a local newspaper, three advertising agencies, a corporate in-house agency, and a large commercial printing company. This experience gave her the skills to strike out on her own in 1981, when she opened a six-person, full-service design and photography studio in San Antonio, Texas. In 1993, with her industry fully revolutionized by the computer, she moved to Seattle and downsized to a home office. This technical background and 40+ years of experience give her the perfect blend of old-school knowledge and digital technology to ensure that her work meets a high level of quality. As a designer, Ptak excels at text-intensive projects like books. Her typography is top-notch, as she pays a great deal of attention to details like kerning and text flow. You'll find no widows, orphans, rivers, or strings of multiple hyphens in her work. As a project manager, she can access both her right and left brain equally to assist her self-publishing clients through the process from text to published work and promotion as much or as little as they need.