Reference
No Matter What! Five Steps of Reflection to Live a Balanced Life!
Celine Pi’ilani Nelsen
Island Heritage Publishing, 102 pp, $19.99
In this crazy day and age when one must juggle earthquake blackouts and mudslide traffic jams, what local doesn’t need a little balance in their Force? Celine Pi’ilani Nelsen’s No Matter What! Five Steps of Reflection to Live a Balanced Life! may be just the thing.
It’s billed as a ‘reflective journey through the eyes of a Native Hawaiian woman raised in a tiny Hawaiian plantation village.’ With sub-chapter headings like ‘Love yourself first, no matter what!’ and ‘Get over it, no matter what!,’ things seem occasionally unrestrained (Let’s go nuts on those exclamation points!!!), but Nelsen’s locally slanted stories that illustrate her five-step program
give it a bit of island charm.
Here’s the intro for the second chapter, ‘Self-Reflection: Know who you are, no matter what!’
‘Growing up in my little plantation village on the island of Kaua’i exposed me to a myriad of nationalities and personalities. It was far from homogeneous as I was blessed to be surrounded by a multitude of people of various ethnicities with different behavioral traits and customs. This diversity was wonderful to witness because the village lived and worked as a family unit with special dynamics.’
Nelsen is the president of Pacific Leadership Partners, a leadership and development training firm in Honolulu, so she must know what she’s talking about. Buy it and gift it to that troubled yuppie in your office. –R. S.
Honolulu Weekly Recommends
The Hawaii Home Book: Practical Tips for Tropical Living
Karen Anderson
Watermark Publishing, 202pp. $19.95
Living on a tropical island isn’t always as idyllic as the advertising people over at Corona would like you to think. Most of us who actually live in Hawai’i can recount tales of late-night millipede encounters, barking geckos and cockroaches large enough to eat at the big kids’ table. Karen Anderson’s how-to bible The Hawaii Home Book: Practical Tips for Tropical Living makes residing in paradise Corona-commercial simple.
Geared for those who are building, remodeling or customizing their homes, Anderson’s guide covers everything from tax incentives to tiki torches. What makes living in Hawai’i unique also creates challenges. Concerned about Coqui frogs? Want to know the best way to light up that coconut tree in your front yard? Anderson’s got you covered. The large color photographs make it easy to tell the difference between flooring like teak and tigerwood, transforming the reader into a materials master. Who knew monkeypod looks excellent when polished? While most of the book is strictly for home owners, the Finishing Touches chapter has some great ideas that even lowly renters can use to transform that Kaimuki studio into a lush, inviting retreat to be proud of.
-E. S.
