With the access to information and highly detailed maps and directions at our fingertips, we can only reflect back in time to try to feel what it must have felt like to not even know where you are on the planet. Prior to mass-scale printing, the vast majority of people did not even have a paper map to know where they are or how to get to where they may want to go. People’s travels were generally limited to short distances, where they could walk or ride by horse, and generally only on well-worn paths they knew, not too far from home. To travel farther distances, and in some cases, even to the nearby town, it was essential to have a marked trail, a marked road or a marked pathway.

For early Americans to fulfill what was viewed as America’s Manifest Destiny, people migrated West, what became known as the Wild West or the Frontier. Fortunately, for the masses who followed, they benefitted from the experiences, mapping and trail marking (blazing) of the original pioneers who had made the journey before them. In fact, millions set out for a new life with the promise of potential riches and other rewards, employing experienced guides, using the maps they had created and following their previously reconnoitered trails, marked with blazes. Though we know that even with the benefit of guides, maps and blazes to keep them on a safe course, their journeys were still frought with risks, The risks and their probability of success, and safely, were vastly improved, by following guides, maps and blazed trails.

Today, we can only imagine the old days of the Wild West and American Frontier. We have mind-boggling detailed maps at our finger tips. That has made traditional paper maps, obsolete, though we do still, rely on marked roads, and sometimes ask the advice of someone who has been there. So, there are modern ways from getting from one point on the planet to another, whether you are going halfway around the world, or just the other side of town. If you need to get from here to there, they have an “App” for that.

However, navigating life has only gotten more complicated, more difficult. Modern-day technology has created thousands of career fields, specialities and sub-specialties that are equally mind-boggling. And, there is no one to tell you about them all or help you decide on which might be a good fit for you. The healthcare field is another that has exploded with career specialties. I won’t belabor the point, other than to say that this explosion of life options, pervades every aspect of life: career decisions, where you live, decisions about marriage and family, even how to resolve a conflict. Just look at all the bickering you see on social media. So, life decisions have become more more complicated. The repercussions and/or rewards of your life decisions have become more substantial. And, there ain’t no “App” for that. This is part of the background for why we started Pathfinders (TM), and why this blog is called “Blazes and Pearls”. Each of our articles are intended to be short, but impactful, helping to enrich your life, helping to light the path, blaze the trail and map out your life decisions, with the advice from experienced guides who have been there, and provide some wisdom (Pearls) along the way. I assure you that if you plug-in, start studying and reflecting on our content, our experience and observations will help you navigate all life decisions more successfully.