I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the line between personal and professional and what that means. Actually, I’m not sure that line even exists for me – I’m not sure it’s possible.

When I think about the position I have, the job I do, the life I lead … it all blends together. I think that 3 years ago I could have easily said that there was a vast difference between my personal and professional lives, but only because I was in a position that didn’t relate at all to the things I did in my free time or the things I was passionate about.  I think in positions like that, it’s really easy to have a divide.

In my current position, I’m active personally and professional all day long on social networks. I work on projects that I’m passionate about, and I express my art and my creativity in every project I do – as part of my job. I wonder though, how it’s possible to separate that from who I am personally.  If we strive to have positions that inspire us, and make us want to do wonderful things, aren’t those positions then inherently things that are part of who we are? Don’t we always hear people say that to find the perfect job you should do what you love? What happens when you find that perfect job and do what you love, and then your life bleeds into one identity?

It reminds me of a TED talk I watched recently about having fun and being serious and the line between those things. I’ve felt the same way in my life at different times so I could easily connect with what Paula Scher was saying.

I know a lot of people with separate personal/professional profiles on social networks because it’s important to them to have that separation. I have generally avoided that because I feel – again – that I *am* what I do, and to attempt to separate those things will only lead to confusion and a feeling of constant questioning and being overwhelmed. I think the power of social networks is that we do learn about the personal things – I have a much stronger connection to you if I know the stupid little things about you. I dig knowing what you eat for breakfast, or what you’re reading or what you’re doing this weekend. I connect with that much more than hearing you only talk about your job, and where you’re headed for your next conference.

As we do more and more work that we love for someone else, are we losing ourselves in the process? If it’s our art, our creative energy, and our ideas – when does it belong to us and when does it belong to the person signing our paychecks?  Are we sacrificing our own brand for the sake of another? Are we selling our souls in exchange for doing what we love on a daily basis? How can we each develop our own personal brand if we’re under the umbrella of another brand? At times I feel that if I want to express my true feelings and opinions I have to do so in some completely anonymous way so that I don’t affect “the brand” in a negative way because my personal identity is so connected to my professional.

The more we focus on innovation and getting the right people in the right positions doing things they’re passionate about, will we see more and more of personal and professional bleeding into one? I know that I can’t separate that anymore and I’m willing to bet that a lot of other people out there feel the same way and have the same challenges. It’s a struggle for me.

a photo of me speaking with danah boyd at the tlt symposium held at the penn stater conference center and hotel at penn state on saturday, april 18, 2009. photo by colecamplese.