Award-winning author Baltazzi has constructed an energizing treatise focused on the search for and acquisition of the experience of happiness, extracting it from what may sometimes seem like an impossibly complex morass of personal and societal restraints through her well-considered methodology. Based on her background as a noted television producer and director with the long-running and highly successful series Survivor, and drawing from perceptions of a multitude of realms—spiritual, social, and practical—she postulates eight core values needed for the process of attaining happiness: faith, love, health, gratitude, forgiveness, peace, detachment, and abundance. Each of these qualities, referred to collectively as “Happiness Essentials,” is explored using certain terms derived from the author’s background in cinematography.

For instance, the “Photo Ops” exercises invite readers—who will quickly become immersed in Baltazzi’s intellectual and intuitive counseling—to picture the problems and thought processes relevant to each of the eight essentials. Readers are also encouraged to take an actual photograph of a scene that expresses the quality under discussion, with the author presenting her own samples. In all segments, journaling is encouraged, with lines for the reader to record her/his thoughts and feelings based on pertinent questions such as, “What role does Detachment currently play in your life?” Chapters also include a “Centering Thought” composed by the author, such as, in the case of abundance, the reminder that “Today is what matters.” Also offered for each quality are affirmations and a meditation prayer. Throughout this vibrant presentation, the author has arrayed a multitude of paradigms selected from varying resources, like speeches exuding gratitude made by Oscar winners such as Halle Berry and Ben Affleck. Regarding the outcomes inherent in abundance, an example is Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson who, with his last seven dollars, set out to realize his dream to become a much-lauded professional wrestler and film performer.

Baltazzi’s recollections—her early frustrations, her aspirations, her impressive career trajectory, and her life-changing discoveries—are deftly interwoven into this dynamic treatise. Baltazzi, a “Happiness Explorer,” has to her credit achievements reaching across many realms and underpinned by academic and personal study. She has walked thousands of miles to raise funds for charity, ascended such storied peaks as Mt. Kilimanjaro twice, and led African safaris. This debut book has already garnered significant recognition: the Nautilus Book Silver Award for Creativity & Innovation, finalist in the Personal Growth category and winner of the Wellbeing category of the National Indie Excellence Award, and Best Personal Development Book for the Year 2024 from Best Holistic Life Magazine. From the book’s preface to the final chapter titled “The End Is Just the Beginning,” it will be clear to her readership that Baltazzi has developed within herself the principles that she now wishes to share with others through a combination of innate determination and a tireless search, utilizing the art of cinematography as both a symbolic and pragmatic implement in her pursuit of self-knowledge. One particular element offered, supported by the "Take a Shot at Happiness" companion app, urges readers to carry their phone cameras at all times to capture memory pictures and facilitate journaling their own special adventures. Based on her experience, she stresses that one’s path to self-discovery may be slow, requiring concentration and dedication. Baltazzi’s foray into the world of words and wisdom will doubtless find a large base of grateful followers whose efforts will be rewarded with the promise of new, exhilarating life directions.

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