Find Your Path LLC

06/19/2026

There is no better sound!

06/16/2026

Tuesday Teachings: I am on a hiking trip in Vermont. Take 20 seconds and breathe. I will post a writing next week.

06/15/2026

Feeling stressed? Take 20 seconds to reset your nervous system. Watch, listen, and breathe.
Try focusing on one little section of water. Follow it on its journey. Then go find another one and follow the flow. Imagine the feel of the breeze on your face, and the smell of the damp earth after last night's rain. Picture yourself touching the cool stones in the stream. Imagine your stress and worries as one of those little water droplets...and watch it get carried away.
Play it as many times as you need until you feel your heart rate slow, your breathing feel calmer, and your shoulders relax.
Guess what? You just did a tiny remote forest bathing session!! How did it feel?

If you enjoy this, think of what an hour on a path would do for you!!

06/09/2026

TUESDAY TEACHINGS: Insects…loathe or love?

When I was a child I was swarmed by bees and stung mercilessly. My dad had to rescue me and the dog, dragging us one under each arm to throw us in the lake to get the bees off. Since then, just hearing the buzz of insect wings is enough to throw me into a sense of panic.

Aside from being pollinators or food for bats, why do bugs even exist? If you ask most people, their purpose is just to annoy us and make our outside events miserable! But this irritating group of invertebrates have some of the most interesting and important roles.

Insects are defined as animals with six legs and segmented bodies. They make up nearly 80% of all the terrestrial living things on this planet. Read that again. That’s a lot of bugs!! The breadth of ecosystem services provided by insects corresponds with an estimated annual economic value of $57 billion (according to a 2006 study published in Bioscience). Insect pollinators are responsible for the pollination of nearly 75% of all of the world’s food crops. Many insects are responsible for consuming decaying matter and returning nutrients to the soil. Burrowing insects help to aerate the soil to allow water, oxygen and nutrients to more easily reach the roots of growing plants. Some insects even control pest insects, so there is less damage to our crops. Aquatic insects break down debris in bodies of water, leading to cleaner water supplies for plants and people.

So even if you view bugs as creepy crawlies, they are integral to our survival as humans. But what about other animal species?

Do you like birds? I love them. Over 95% of bird species rely on insects for fuel on their migration and to feed themselves and their young. Birds consume nearly 500 tons of insects each year in North America! What about reptiles and mammals? Insects make up a large portion of the biomass on our planet and are a foundational source of protein for animals higher up in the food chain.

Those are lots of reasons to love our insect brethren. Then, why do so many people loathe them? Humans tend to value creatures that are beautiful, soft, fluffy or gentle. Butterflies are admired, stink bugs are stepped on. Dragonflies are considered magical, but earwigs are disgusting. Do we judge other living things based on how they benefit us? How appealing they are?

Nature does not operate according to human preferences. Every organism has a role, even those we do not fully understand. To loathe insects without understanding them is to miss an important part of the natural world. To love them is not necessarily to enjoy every encounter, but to recognize their value and place within the greater web of life. Perhaps insects are not asking for our affection at all, only our respect.

06/02/2026

TUESDAY TEACHINGS: Who am I to judge?

I was listening to the BirdNote Daily podcast on my way into work. There was a birder who loves watching American Herring Gulls (these are the ones everyone calls “seagulls” at the beach). The excitement in his voice was adorable as he spoke of these birds. I can’t stand gulls. They are annoying, sneaky, and they constantly try to steal my snacks. The birder said he is so disappointed when people refer to them as “rats with wings”.

I felt immediately guilty. I have called these birds rats with wings. That got me thinking. Who am I to judge which species are superior and which should be disparaged? Why do we as a society generally prefer the soft and cuddly over the rough and scaly? (disclaimer…I love snakes and lizards).

Animals that inconvenience or scare us are often disparaged. Sharks are feared based on a small number of attacks. Horses are loved by many because they are beautiful and majestic. Snakes are vilified in religious texts. Wasps are denigrated and seen as aggressive. Our human judgement is influenced by fear, appearance, or our own opinions rather than the importance of these creatures. I was stung multiple times in a bee swarm as a child. Because of that, I retreat or cower in fear every time I see one. Does that fat little bumblebee deserve my prejudice? No…he is likely just hanging around, pollinating and being cute. Humans also are tip-toeing very close to a dangerous line when we assign our own values to animals because all we have to do is look at history to see how easily this judgement can become cruelty. When humans decide that something is worthless or lowly, destruction can quickly follow. Think of the wolves in Yellowstone. That entire population was wiped out due to human fear of livestock attacks, and we all saw what happened there. Humans do not always have the wisdom or education to judge something’s value accurately.

Animals that we admire possess qualities that we would want for ourselves. Beauty, strength, elegance. This might show that we are incredibly short sighted and egocentric when assigning value. Nature herself shows us that a creature’s worth cannot be measured by beauty or usefulness. Flowers do not deny their pollen to a scary bee while waiting for a beautiful butterfly. Rivers do not hold back their waters from the prehistoric (and often algae covered) snapping turtle to favor, instead, the lovely little fawn gingerly coming forward to get a drink. Trees do not shake the buzzards off their branches while welcoming the eagles. To do so would reveal their arrogance rather than their wisdom.

We all deserve existence and acceptance. We all play an important role in our communities. The world is at her best when everyone, even the misunderstood, are allowed to shine. I will do my best to embrace the herring gulls from now on instead of calling them names. They deserve better.

I am attaching a link to the BirdNote Daily podcast if you are interested in 1-2 minute snippets on the wonders of birds. I find them quite entertaining on my drive in to work.

BirdNote Daily® is a two-minute radio show that combines rich sounds with engaging stories, to illustrate the amazing lives of birds and give listeners a momentary respite from the news of the day.

05/31/2026

I miss these moments on the deck up north with my dad. Find Your Path became a reality because this guy shared his love of the woods with me.

I stumbled across an old Instagram account I made while I was teaching in person (totally forgot about it!) and found this post from 9 years ago. Bittersweet.

05/27/2026

Looking for a fun group of gals to help you get outside and do some hiking and walking? Consider She Ascends - an inclusive hiking group for women!
Join me, Jodi, your SW Michigan hiking guide, for our first hike on June 23. This will be along the KRVT in Parchment at 5:30. Your first hike is free! Click the link below, scroll down, and sign up. If you can’t make this first hike, there will be more! When you join She Ascends, you can expect at least two hikes a month, even more occasional pop-up hikes, and other social events!
She Ascends is dedicated to providing women with a safe, inclusive and friendly environment to enjoy the outdoors year round! If you would like to check it out, join our first hike or reach out with questions. Membership is $40 a year and includes meet up hikes, Hike and Learn events, as well as Adventure and Retreat Weekends.
Click here to register for the first meet up hike, which is FREE!
https://www.sheascends.org/michigan.html?fbclid=IwY2xjawSD7YhleHRuA2FlbQIxMABzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEe2Tj3YKGuZTKJgOCYvETEglcxJqO46_T5ELHwv19tCeVPsPFMobfwCl7MSpo_aem_tn82DNcX1GzSn60bv4ZWeA
You can also check out our main page at www.sheascends.org to see what you can expect once Michigan is up and fully running!

Member Meet-up Hikes ​ Members can choose to attend all meet-up hikes offered with no additional hiking fees. Not a member? You can drop in whenever it works, by registering as a drop...

05/27/2026

This was our "end of interview" attempt at doing an infomercial. 🤣🤣

05/26/2026

TUESDAY TEACHINGS: The Courage to Emerge

Moths crawl from their cocoons. Small ferns push through the soil and begin to unfurl. Bears surface from their hibernation dens. Spring is a time when life slowly emerges from the long winter slumber.

It is finally warming up enough to see life springing forth! As a kid I loved thinking about caterpillars transforming into beautiful butterflies. Last spring I was SO excited to see a monarch chrysalis underneath my deck rail. I checked it every day, waiting for the emergence of the beautiful insect. One morning I went out to discover, in horror, that something had made a snack of the bright green chrysalis.

I’ve been following the progress of the butterfly chrysalides at the Liberty Hyde Bailey Museum & Gardens on their page. One of the painted lady butterflies arrived with a torn wing. It was reported that she would remain in captivity so she could be properly cared for and have a nice life.

That got me thinking. We celebrate and revere the fully formed butterfly in all its beauty. But what about the monarch butterfly that never got to live, or this painted lady that may never fly? Butterflies mirror the human experience. Both are fragile, vulnerable to their surroundings, yet capable of great things. Both are transformative. The potential of both the unhatched monarch and the injured painted lady does not disappear because their journeys unfolded differently than expected.

Transformation is painful. The caterpillar basically liquifies before becoming something new. It surrenders its former self before emerging. Emerging requires courage. It leaves the safety of its protective casing for a completely foreign and unknown world, not knowing if its wings will carry it. There is something so brave about leaving what is comfortable in the quest for growth. Often the most difficult part of growth is not becoming something new, or trying something new, but finding the courage to simply step out on the path toward a better version of yourself. We celebrate those who are fully formed, strong, and confident. But how often do we overlook the quiet bravery it takes to even emerge in the first place?

Perhaps a deeper question is not whether those two butterflies met their potential, but whether we truly understand the meaning of potential. Potential might more accurately describe the fact that our worth is not dependent on perfection, transformation isn’t always pretty. Maybe we might not reach our fully formed self, like the eaten monarch, but even then it provided another living thing the opportunity to reach its own potential.

A butterfly with a broken wing may not be able to travel far, but it might still manage to pollinate. Its existence still matters. In the same way, people who struggle, who carry wounds, or have disabilities still possess immense value. Their lives can nurture others through compassion, wisdom, resilience, or simply their presence. Some of the kindest people are those who know what it feels like to emerge wounded and continue thriving anyway. Life does not have to be perfect or pretty to be meaningful. We just need to own our worth and fight to reach for the stars...no matter how rough the journey.

I love this photo from the museum's post. This beautiful little butterfly recently emerged from its protective case. I imagine her looking at her shadow, so large and imposing, and thinking, "Boy! I am so big and strong! I can conquer the world." I wish all of us could see our own potential like this. It may not be pretty. It may not be easy. But we are all on the path to reach our greatest potential. May we all embrace that journey like this delicate little insect sees her own shadow. She knows her worth!

Do you know yours?

Photo credit: Liberty Hyde Bailey Museum & Gardens.