How can life’s setbacks inspire us to reach higher?
Wally "Famous" Amos, Henry Kapono, Shelly Mecum
Last weekend, Alex and I attended two of the sessions in the Clarence T.C. Ching Foundation’s “Inspired in Hawaii” speaker series at Barnes & Noble Ala Moana. A recap of the kickoff event with former Governors Cayetano and Ariyoshi can be found here. On Sunday morning, there was an author panel on “Inspiring Keiki to Overcome Obstacles and Dream Big” with Wally Amos, Henry Kapono and Shelly Mecum.
All three have authored books and continue to contribute through their art, music and stories. They all spoke about their individual obstacles and encouraged children to never give up on their dreams. The general message was one of persistence and faith—that adversity cannot be avoided and instead should be embraced. If you wanted to write a book of motivational quotes, you would only have to listen to these three speak, especially given the fact that both Shelly and Wally are professional inspirational speakers.
Notably, Amos had the simplest and most resounding advice for keiki: “Be positive, regardless. Be honest in who you are and give your very best through whatever happens”. His new book Watermelon Credo is full of helpful tips on living a fun and rewarding life, you can read a few of his sayings and even sign up for motivational newsletters via his website.
Shelly Mecum shared the good news, that her book God’s Photo Album will soon be made into a movie (we’ll try to keep you updated on that). Check out her website here.
Henry Kapono’s keiki book A Beautiful Hawaiian Day (Mutual Publishing, 2000) is a sweet story about a girl and a magic shell. Check out the illustrator, Susan Szabo’s website, for a look at the gorgeous watercolor pictures and a short anecdote on how the book came to fruition. Also, Henry Kapono’s website for music samples and other goodies.
However, the most moving and inspirational contribution of the entire weekend series was from Kapono as he picked up his guitar for an informal performance that was so nahenahe (sweet) it gave me chicken skin. Here’s a short clip of the song “Dreams”. It begins with Kapono telling us how the idea for the song came from watching his son play with his toys:
