Artistry.  Forest, Field, Rainbow.  Striking out on a path.  Remembering that which has been forgotten.  Mystery.  Luxury.  New Beginnings.

Hello, I am the owner of Heart's Path Designs Lisa Jenkins.

A little about me.  My formal education is in Behavioral Psychology and English (don't let any of that by itself drive you away, though!).  I have experience working with children and adults with Developmental Disabilities and their families and caregivers, as well as experience in the pharmaceutical industry (R & D).   So now you know my resume, right?  Now for the fun stuff – what has brought me specifically HERE, to this path.

I have always been heavily influenced by the early American Transcendentalist philosophers and great lovers of nature, most notably John Muir, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Henry David Thoreau.  These very inquisitive men took a step away from the rat race and delved themselves deeply into nature, and were justly rewarded with a deep sense of awe and appreciation for Nature and her gifts.  Similarly, as a child many of my happiest moments were those where I was allowed to explore, to travel, to push the limits out and away from the hustle and bustle.  When I was allowed to breathe in the still air around me on a pine-studded trail, to splash rowdily into rivers, and tear up dusty trails.  To let a high late summer wild whip my hair and climb hills that were probably too tall for my little legs to even think to climb.  Nights when I was allowed to stay up very late (or woken in the early morning hours) to witness an eclipse. Times driving out into the countryside to experience no more than the beauty of the spring wildflowers on the rolling hills.  To fully experience the deep sense of wonder about all things natural, and about our place in such an awesome world.  But I grew up, I went to college, I got a job.  I had long hours and for a couple of years a very long commute (haven't we all been there?).  When I could not get out on the trail, I often forgot.  Or if not forgot, when I was too busy with chores or commitments or stuck in the car (again) I would gaze out the open window, hoping to let that breath of Nature come to me and bring its wild scents.  Sometimes I got lucky and got a whiff, but too often it was work, drive, eat, shower, sleep.  Repeat.

So imagine my joyful surprise when one day, I won a prize on the Facebook page of a blogger whom I really like.  And I didn't even know what it would mean to me until after it had arrived.   I opened it and thought oh, soap.  Cool, I guess.  Then I SMELLED it.  It was a mix of Tangerine. . . something warm and slightly like. . . amber?  I also smelled something sharp and earthy, almost like freshly cut grass.  It was just a plain-looking bar, all one soft orange color but it had a texture to it (finely ground oatmeal, maybe?).  I was rather intrigued.  To be honest, I never much liked most of the bath and body products I had tried in the past.  Many of the widely-available ones were pretty enough but struck me as completely synthetic at worst, or overly sweet with no other real redeeming qualities at best.  The few that smelled anywhere near authentic to me were way too expensive to really ever consider buying, or the brand just somehow didn't speak to me enough to want to try them out.

Then I used it . . . It was like I opened up the windows and let IN the orchard and trails and it was all just right there in the shower with me.   The steam released the essential oils and it was just as much aromatherapy as it was “just a shower.”  I was hooked.  This was not JUST soap, this was an experience I would not forget.  This was, well I'll say it. . . a LUXURY.  That little prize brought me a new passion, one I haven’t been able to let go of.  Life went on, for the most part.  But my desire to re-create and even expand upon the awesome bath experience did not go away.