June Transitions

June is a transition month - the end of spring and the beginning of summer. June’s element is fire, which purifies and gives life. It’s a highly yang time of movement and power, the season of completion, abundance and fulfillment. I have a hope that in summer I will reach the full flowering of myself and my dreams.

June has a different pace, less scheduled though more active. It’s a time for fine-tuning, and for decisive action. June is when I like to energetically climb to the top of a hill, survey the landscape and climb down again, to put myself in context, evaluate my progress, see what I’ve accomplished since January, and make careful adjustments in my goals and priorities. 

My aim this month is to stand still and calm in the center while I am playing, cleaning, writing, socializing, teaching, digging in the garden, swimming, traveling, and painting. 

"Only when there is stillness in movement can the spiritual rhythm appear which pervades heaven and earth." -- Taoist text

Monday is my day to reset for the week and get my ducks in a row - make some plans for health and home, and how I will step up for the Natural Living Challenge.

Agenda this week:

1. Journal query

2. Read "The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning"

3. Zen Care for the Living-room

4. Ray of Sun Meditation

Blue Moon Sabbath

Sunday is my day to be quiet (at least for a while), with the spirit, in contemplation and prayer, and in community with nature and/or other bipeds. This Sabbath is unusual because II'm not alone in the house - and I need a plan for how to be quiet with a partner: Well, I'll start off with my usual quiet morning writing time, and flow directly into Meeting for Worship. Then scoot outside for time alone in the garden. After that, quiet will be an inner feeling I carry with me!

Today is also the full moon called the Blue Moon, because it is the second full moon in May. Actually, the original definition of a blue moon is a fourth full moon in one season, but I'm going with the newer definition - the second full moon in a month - because I don't have any better name for this moon. Both are correct, because it's folklore, and folklore is fluid!

Agenda:

1. Read "12 Tiny Things"

2. Review, refine, and shift

3. Balance journal

4. Celebrate balance

5. Truth walk ceremony

End of May Garden Catch Up

On this last day of May, when the crisis of surgery is over, and we are both recovering our equilibrium, I want to take time to catch up a bit in the garden. We've had a wet spell, but the trend is warmer this week. I need to push to get the last summer crops planted.

Agenda:

1. May garden tasks

2. Planting

3. Squash bug watch

4. Wildlife garden plans

Say Yes

Friday is my day for proaction: Proaction is taking initiative to anticipate and shape future events rather than simply reacting to circumstances as they happen. Some people think Covey should've just used the word ACT, but proaction requires a thought: "I could do this or I could do that; I choose to do this."

On Fridays I take steps to maintain clarity of purpose, keep the end in mind, monitor my progress, and recommit. I often journal a bit about the future, and my dreams and goals: What GREAT things do I want to accomplish? How will I serve people? How will I use my talents? How will I stretch myself? How can I become an “island of excellence”? What is essential?

Agenda:

1. Read "The Achievement Habit"

2. Clarity for Service

3. The end plan

4. Proaction and reciprocity plans

Creative Clarity

I'm on a clarity kick, trying to understand how I want to direct my energy in the next months of my life. My priorities are those activities, good deeds, responsibilities, people, disciplines, and whatever else seems most important and feels most meaningful to me, now.

Thursday is my day to open the door to creative thinking and doing, so today I'll take time to think about my path forward.

Agenda: 

1. Read "The Book of Doing and Being"

2. Creative visioning

3. Projects for the week

4. Functional creativity

Hump Day

Wednesday is my day to re-group and re-define my week. First I make a plan for getting over the bump of the mid-week, then I re-envision my emotional tone and perspective.

Today I also need to do what I can to prepare for settling my beloved back in to home-life!

Agenda today:

1. My bump plan

2. Read "The Sweet Spot"

3. Writing themes and passion plan

4. Create clarity