This month brings its heat along with extended summer getaways and ripening produce. August in Old English equates to hærfest, or harvest. Traveling further back, the word’s ancient root means to pluck, gather, or cut. So what business will you cut short to gather a few essentials and pluck the profits of some time away?

Look for the dog days of summer—not underfoot, but above, when the heat of the day abates and stars emerge. Before dawn, depending on your latitude, Canis Major, or the Greater Dog constellation, rises and sets with the sun. Sweltering heat accompanies this season. What are you choosing this month to be top dog?

May marks "The Mint’s" first birthday. "The Mint" is the newsletter for GOLDEN WHOLENESS Coaching. Movements within seasons, along with noticing growth within our own seasons, have taken us through the year. Currents awakening us to new work and larger frameworks have led the way. Photography paired with the writing serves as metaphor to open doorways of insight~and bring visual delight. The quest of "The Mint" is to enter into the invitation of the moment with readers, see w

I am honored to convey that I submitted a proposal to speak at a premier global, professional conference...and was not one of the handful selected. It would have been nice to meet the needs of the audience well, to furnish insights, and to absorb fresh learning. However, winning and securing desired results is simply the satisfying reward that lasts about as long a stunning sunrise. Then the quest is on again! For me, it is a lot like executing a paining. I do like looking at

Jokes, jests, and hijinks were all in order to coax out just the right amount of conviviality the first day of this month. Though the advent of April Fools’ Day remains as cloaked as the punch line of a good joke, we do know humor has played a part in humanity since ancient times. Now rounding the mid-way point of the month, what good joke has been played on you--or you've played on yourself-- that you've turned around into an "Aha!"? Did you go to work without your office ke

The Awareness Group Coaching spring cohort commenced with its first session yesterday. Groundwork brought participants present from walking in the door and established commonalities to nurture trust and support. As the hour proceeded, the level of investigation deepened as the stage was set for the coming weeks. Shedding the pressured-task master is the quest (otherwise known as the transformative, adventurous journey). Developing purposeful presence is the goal, or favorable

Bubblegum pink, cotton candy, blush, ballet slipper, flamingo pink! The parade of cherry blossoms are on display in our latitude and clime. They will be at their pinnacle of perky, lush vibrancy for only a few days, at most a week. The Yellow-rumped Warblers and Northern Mockingbirds in North America, and in Asia the Brown-eared Bulbul and the White-headed Bulbul, will make haste to visit and pollinate along with the honeybees. What about us? Will we assume that the blossoms

As the lava lamp was invented and Dr. King wrote his "Letter from Birmingham Jail," there was another social force in the making. American psychologist Abraham Maslow coined the term, peak experience, in 1963. He described it as "rare," "oceanic," and "deeply moving." Surpassing ordinary consciousness, this is transcendent. Climbing over the ordinary into the realm of the limitless may be a boat you'd like to hop on now, or perhaps it sounds false or foreboding. However, thes

Weavers conceptualize their work through the marriage of weft and warp. That is, between the material (weft) and the space between (warp). This ratio determines the pattern. One question: How will our design for this day's work improve with putting more appreciation on the space between things? Leaving a bit of room between commitments to absorb its tenor, or waiting one more breath before responding may make a preferable pattern in today's weave. Will lacy and airy or stron

There are parts of our humanity with which we are at a tug-of-war. Until we shift our awareness, they operate as something of a perpetual landslide, concealing our better selves. The debris includes detritus such as worries, tensions and pressures, as well as fantasies of validation, admiration and security. The usual framework is for us to take one artifact from the onslaught and, semi-consciously, have a friendly duel with it. It might sound like this: “Uhh! I don’t know if

February’s associations can be fluffy and sentimental. However, St. Valentine’s purported story is sobering. In 270 CE a Roman priest defied the emperor to perform marriage ceremonies. Valentinus was eventually executed on the same day we deliver love notes and chocolate. The basis of Valentine’s Latin name, valens, means worthy and powerful. This is rather apt as enduring, unconditional love requires commitment and tenacity to make that happen. Knowing this, petitioning anot

We can feel quite alone when our goodness or love goes unrecognized. Without validation, a sense of meaninglessness can arise. That is, unless we are so anchored in our purpose, that our motivation rarely wanes, and a sense of rightness remains. What are you anchored in today?

The practice of mise en place (MEEZ - ahn - PLAHS), or everything in its place, is quite a handy tool. It streamlines baking by having all ingredients ready to be rapidly assembled. It may appear to be a flashy gimmick on cooking shows, but it turns out to be matter-of-fact solid practice. Attending to each component, and thereby thinking about its role to play, brings a conscientiousness to the process. So is there a way to 'mise en place' our days? A way to steady and accou

When I consider Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., he was so rich in virtue it is tough to know where to begin appreciating his work. He made room for realization to sweep through him-utterly. In a time of intense turmoil, he liberated others via example. Endowed with expressive verve, his speaking gave needed shape to both predicaments and possible answers. Yet, beyond the bold strokes of landmark legislation, key campaigns, and revelatory speeches, King was patient and tolerant. H

Is it that pinnacle of nearly fluorescent achievement? Or are you in the budding stage of momentum manifesting something tangible? Perhaps you are in the warm glow after seeds have been dispersed and there is satisfaction. Or is it the utter fading of life forces until all that remains is the shape of the bloom now turned to shades of brownish grey signifying that a chapter is finished? It really doesn't matter, since the stages perpetuate themselves. We can suggest it is the

The intriguing dullness that has the power to bring temporary paralysis is one way to describe apathy. The term originates from the Greek, apathēs, meaning both without feeling, but also without suffering, indicating numbness. An amusing clue to dealing with apathy came by simply spelling it out. Inside the word is another: path. From here, we can ask what our route is to begin to be in touch with the sense world again so we can re-engage.

The (Gregorian) calendar announces a new year. Though the sun comes up and goes down in a nicely predictable and ongoing fashion, this social construct catches our attention. Questions arise: What will be carried over to the fresh ledger from the old? What’s novel? What’s to be let go? There are additional ways to mark time. Other calendars wrangle the lineup of seasons, lunar cycles, and solar years, while keeping festivals, equinoxes, and moon phases in sync. It can be easy

Shhhhhh... It's a sleeping squirrel. Only twice have my eyes spied one, and both at this time of year. It's a cue to notice the contrast between bonkers busy and absolute stillness. How long can you rest in tranquility before the compunction to move makes you leap? How much more effective are you when you spend more time in reflection before you act?

Reflective calm companions the frenzy of the season, providing a remedy for our nerves. Soaking in the velvet darkness, looking up at the night sky for winter’s constellations, and making time to experience stillness can reveal a dimension of experience worth beholding.

New experiences bring momentum. They require us to be agile and innovative. Habits and automated responses have to take a hike: Fresh...