Producer
Storyteller
Happiness Explorer
Available Wherever Books Are Sold
Take a Shot at Happiness:
how to Write, Direct &
Produce the Life You Want
Take a Shot at Happiness is a creative approach to being happier. It is more than a book. It is more than a change in perspective. It is a consciously chosen way of life, making you its true writer, director, and producer. (Published by Post Hill Press and distributed by Simon & Schuster)
Capture the Life You Want
The Take a Shot at Happiness app is designed to help you cultivate happiness, mindfulness, and personal development by encouraging you to capture and reflect upon meaningful moments in your life. Each section offers thought-provoking prompts to center your thoughts, inspire your perspective, and encourage you to capture images that represent your journey to happiness. Tailor your experience by creating your own Essentials, allowing you to focus on the aspects of life that matter most to you.
About the Book
On a steamy jungle island in the middle of the South China Sea, the most popular television show is about to come to its shocking conclusion. A small television stage lit by tiki torches illuminates a show host, a jury of seven contestants sitting on tree stumps, and the final two runners-up for a million dollars. It was season one of CBS’ competition show, Survivor, one of the longest-running unscripted series. Maria Baltazzi was one of the original supervising producers.
Those Survivor contestants were stripped of everything except their wits and each other to survive on a beach while trying to win a life-changing cash prize. Only then could they witness their true selves and the potential of others—good or bad—something that always stuck with Maria. So, taking a page from that experience, Maria realized she could only see her true self if she took the time to strip off the negativity, pay closer attention to her actions, and ask some tough questions about what she wanted. This book is Maria’s insights about being happy learned from her time in the entertainment industry, observing people and events, traveling, and studying wellbeing. Within these pages is a practical guide for a creative path to happiness through taking photographs with your camera phone, journaling about things that matter, and being part of a supportive community.
You can create a healthier state of being and have fun doing it. Even when your world turns upside down, you can still be the writer, director, and producer of the life you want.
A Bit About Maria
Happiness Explorer Maria Baltazzi helps you become happier and live more consciously. Maria’s experience as an Emmy-winning TV producer, wellbeing teacher, world traveler, and travel designer specializing in transformative adventures gives her a unique lens into conscious living. Sharing eight Happiness Essentials, Maria helps you discover your path to happiness in a fun, creative way that combines journaling and phone photography. With an MFA in film and a PhD in Conscious-Centered Living, Maria’s adventurous and giving spirit that include epic treks and charity walks on all seven continents, makes her an inspiration for living your best life.
Reviews
CBS’ The Talk hosts Maria to talk about her new book on their SeeHer segment. November 17th.
Live Happy Now invites Maria to talk about discovering the Happiness Essentials. October 31st.
Podcast Let’s Make Some Noise interviews Maria about the secreet to Happiness. October 30th.
Authority Magazine’s Jake Frankel interviews Maria on Finding Happiness and Joy During Turbulent Times. October 26th.
Lindsay Hadley invites Maria to chat about understanding your inner-self. October 17th.
The Cost of Not Paying Attention invites Maria to discuss how we practice conscious living. September 15th.
Happiness Essentials
Color Photos + Journal Quotes
In Take a Shot at Happiness: How to Write, Direct & Produce the Life You Want, the following photos are in black and white. The publisher could not print them in color for cost-effective reasons, so they are shared here as they were meant to be experienced. Maria believes these images have a different read and feeling when seen in full color. The photos and quotes are part of the activities you will be encouraged to do throughout the book to make the concepts more tangible, practical, and fun to engage with as you read.