I will have to share a few of my vacation pics with you once I’ve sorted them out (there are a few on Instagram if you’d like a preview). Meanwhile, my VacationSTRETCH is now in its 7th day back home — crazy how fast it goes!
On one of those 7 mornings, I had my coffee down the hill with a walk at Holoholokai Beach Park. It was such a beautiful day, that I couldn’t help but think about one’s Sense of Place, and how much it can define what we think of as ‘home.’

A May 2016 morning at Holoholokai Beach Park
As Dr. George Kanahele had said, sense of place is the feel of a place, and just as importantly, your feel for a place.
To take VacationSTRETCH, or just a nature break, briefly walking outside in the middle of a busy day, is to remember what you have so close at hand, and keep its nurturing spirit close to you.
It’s pausing to invest in the value of Nānā i ke kumu, and it’s very good for your Aloha Spirit.

Walk this way

Maiapilo, the Hawaiian caper bush

Beach Heliotrope at Holoholokai Beach Park

Black lava, white coral, golden algae
It only took me about 15 minutes, these captures done with my smartphone, however I could have easily spent my entire morning there.
Site category for Key 7: Strengths Management
Key 8. SENSE OF PLACE:
Think “working in my neighborhood” for no culture exists in a vacuum. Sense of Place is both the feel OF a place, and the feel FOR a place. Sense of Place is about greater community locally and connectivity globally. It is saying a “thank you” with stewardship, and engaging at a higher level with those places which have gotten you this far, and continue to nourish you daily in a multitude of tiny ways that collectively are absolutely HUGE factors in your success. It is giving back, recognizing that place nurtures and sustains us; it shapes our experiences and lends cultural richness to life. Always will.

Marking history, saying, “I was here!”

Come back soon!