Hawaii & High Tides
Weekly Inspiration
Let’s talk about Hawaii.
Not the postcard version. Not the "influencer on a beach at golden hour" version.
I mean the real Hawaii. The kind that gives you the healing you didn’t know you needed—right after it knocks you on your ass.
Hawaii is why I got LASIK. It’s also where I got chased by wild pigs, sliced my leg open on coral, and accidentally ate an entire weed cookie that sent me into a 48-hour panic spiral.
It’s also where I projectile vomited in a hotel room on New Year’s Eve.
But more than anything, it’s where I healed—again and again.
Let me back up.
🌋 Superglue, Snorkels & Spiritual Awakenings
My then boyfriend-but-would-be-husband and I had just finished working on our respective shows. I was coming off The Avengers, he was finishing up Batman, and we decided to head to Hawaii for two months to decompress.
We didn’t plan much—just a one-way ticket, a camera, and a car that could handle volcanic gravel roads under the clause: “It’s a rental, don’t be gentle.” Within days we were hiking lava, crawling into steam caves, and doing things that were absolutely dangerous, though I didn’t realize it at the time.
On one of our first snorkel trips, I spotted a sea turtle. I was so mesmerized I forgot I had zero depth perception and boom—my leg collided with a coral reef. Blood. Then panic. Sharks? Cue lifeguard. Cue superglue.
I literally got LASIK because of a sea turtle. If you want to hear all about that story then you will have to listen to the podcast. It drops tomorrow.
🍕 The Pizza-Horoscope-Vomit Trifecta
That same night was New Year’s Eve. I had read a horoscope earlier in the day that said: "Anything you're holding onto will be released." Let’s just say…the horoscope was not wrong. It was the pizza from earlier in the afternoon. Around midnight, in a beautiful hotel room, I projectile vomited across the floor.
Happy New Year!
🐋 The Beach I’ll Never Tell You About
There’s this beach in Hawaii. I’m not telling you the name. It’s my beach. Sacred. Secret. Sentimental.
I’ve taken so many people there over the years. I’ve seen whales breaching in the distance and dolphins swimming by like dream creatures. One time we accidentally swam out two football fields, and when I looked back at the shore, I panicked so hard I nearly drowned us both.
It was terrifying. And unforgettable.
That beach became the beginning and the end of a big love story. The place where something started—and later, where something was let go. It holds layers. And it still holds a piece of me. Too many to share in a blog post. I have to save it for the memoir.
💫 What Hawaii Taught Me
Hawaii taught me that healing isn’t always gentle. Sometimes it looks like blood in the water. Sometimes it sounds like lava cracking through the earth. Sometimes it’s laughter in a panic, or silence in awe. Sometimes it’s through a fish eye lens.
Hawaii cracked something open in me. It marked a turning point of my journey into deep spirituality, and learning to navigate my inner world by watching the outer one.
I’ve returned to Hawaii over two dozen times. And every single time, I leave with more than I arrived with.
Magic is real. Or at least, I believe that it is or I need to. Whatever the case, it’s worth it’s weight in sea turtles.
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