Align to the Artist Inside
Nature and the power of nature is reality. When you get away from reality, you get lost.
Human creativity is nature manifest in us.
The energy behind the creation is what makes something beautiful - Ethan Hawke
Writing
Hearts of Mauna Kea is a book about love, life, and gratitude.
On my first visit to Hawaiʻi’s Big Island, I was introduced to Mauna Kea Beach Resort. Years later, while living on the island during a deeply transformational and reflective period of my life, Mauna Kea became a place of healing. It was there that I experienced profound moments—unexpected meetings, meaningful connections, and quiet inspirations.
This book emerged from those experiences, and from the discovery of more than one hundred heart-shaped rocks found along the shoreline. Photographed throughout the resort’s storied grounds, these natural hearts are paired with prose, quotes, and personal reflections that capture the spirit of the place.
More than a personal story, Hearts of Mauna Kea is intended to reflect a shared experience—one rooted in Hawaiʻi, in love, in life, and in the enduring presence of aloha.
“If something inside of you is real, we will probably find it interesting, and it will probably be universal. So you must risk placing real emotion at the center of your work. Write straight into the emotional center of things.”
Great things start with great intention.
Listen Up
Amarsi.
An Italian reflective verb—reciprocal in its very nature.
To be in love.
To love one another.
This word carries what is most essential in the world: what we bring forth through ourselves, and what becomes possible when we meet one another with presence, courage, and the power of our hearts.
The following video is an extract from the two-night, one-man show “I Dieci Comandamenti” (The Ten Commandments) by Academy Award–winning actor and storyteller Roberto Benigni (La Vita è Bella).
Watched by over 20 million viewers, it became the third most-viewed program in Italy in 2014—captivating a nation not through doctrine, but through humanity.
Originally titled “Love, Be Loved, and Be Happy,” this piece is a reminder that love is not an idea—it is an action, a responsibility, and a shared act of creation.
Set to the music of Italian pianist Ludovico Einaudi, Nuvole Bianche, this moment invites us back to what matters most:
To love.
To be loved.
And to let that love move through us—into the world, and into one another.