World-Renowned Photographer Donald Miralle Paddles for Cause

World-Renowned Photographer Donald Miralle Paddles for Cause

As a recognized photographer and paddler, Donald Miralle uses his platform and his talents to promote kindness to people and our planet. Although he’s busy with his career and his philanthropy, he prioritizes spending time with his family. Through talking to Donald, we discovered what inspired his paddling fundraiser and what wisdom he has to share from his experience as an artist, athlete, and father. – KH

Who is Donald Miralle? 

First and foremost, I’m a husband to my wife Lauren and a dad to my sons Micah and Luke. Then, I’m a friend, an artist, and an athlete. My mom was an immigrant who came from the Philippines to the United States with nothing when she was 18, attended business school at USC, and ran a successful business while raising my sisters and me. My dad was of Italian descent and he was a civil engineer originally from the Bronx. I’ve been in Southern California my entire life, spending the first 25 years in the greater L.A. area, and the last 20 in San Diego. Although I met Lauren in L.A., she is originally from Encinitas. It was an easy sell moving down here where I learned how to surf as a kid and came on a lot of road trips. We were planning to get married and start a family and both of us knew we wanted to raise our kids in San Diego, which put us close to her parents.

A wise man once said, “you don’t work a day in your life if you love your job,” and I couldn’t agree with that more. I am truly passionate about photography and travel and I’m very fortunate to have called it my career for the last 23 years. However, I feel even more blessed and happy when I’m home with my family. We have lived in the Leucadia area for 10 years, and I enjoy going to the beach with my kids and being in the water, especially surfing, paddle boarding, and swimming. When I’m relaxing at home, I enjoy taking care of my chickens, working on projects around the house, and watching movies. My boys and I are kind of movie buffs and we watch a film (or two) almost every night when we’re home.

 

 

Can you tell us a little about your recent paddleboard fundraiser? What is the motivation and inspiration behind it?

I was really into competitive paddleboarding from 2008-2015, and competed in several Catalina Classics and Molokai 2 Oahu World Championships. I was one of the few paddlers from the mainland to complete a solo crossing of the Ka’iwi Channel on both a stock prone and stand-up paddleboard. Eventually, I got a bit burned out with all the competitions and mileage when it started to feel like competitive swimming in high school/college; the fun, and passion for it started to fade. I took about 5 years away from the sport, but I did help organize local races I loved. Everything changed last year when I had a catastrophic accident. While skiing with my kids, I had a freak crash and shattered my leg in a hundred pieces. After three surgeries and a lot of hardware in my leg, I still couldn’t walk for four months. The doctor told me there were probably some things I wouldn’t be able to do in the same capacity, like knee paddling and skiing, and that was quite humbling. It put everything into perspective and it was a very hard time, but it motivated me to become stronger than I was before the accident.

This year, after about 10 months of rehab, I got to a place where I could ski and paddleboard again. Once the pandemic hit and I was home unable to travel for assignments, open ocean paddling became the perfect social distancing activity. With all the time I was spending in the ocean, I felt like it might as well go towards something positive. In the past, I’ve done fundraisers for Direct Relief through my photography, as I really believe in what they are doing. As a humanitarian aid organization, they are active in all 50 states and more than 80 countries, with a mission to improve the health and lives of people affected by poverty or emergencies – without regard to politics, religion, or ability to pay. I set up my first GoFundMe page, with Direct Relief as the full beneficiary. I decided to try to paddle more than 500 miles over a couple of months to help raise money for their front line efforts. With a couple of weeks left, I have already surpassed my goal and I’m nearing 600 miles. I’m hoping to continue to raise more money and awareness for Direct Relief and what they are doing.

 

What does kindness mean to you and what role does it have in your life?

I see kindness simply as going beyond treating others how you want to be treated by putting others before yourself. This was something that I had a hard time understanding until my sons were born and I started literally living for them. Growing up, I attended Catholic school from kindergarten through 12th grade, which came with pros and cons. Although I don’t practice religion today, the Jesuit’s motto of being “a man for others” is still a great mantra for any person, especially in today’s derisive environment where people seem so divided and disconnected from each other. The past couple of years, I’ve made it a point in my photography business to give a portion or all of my proceeds for certain sales to organizations I believe strongly in, like Direct Relief, 4Oceans, NAACP, Surfrider, Bro-Am Foundation, and Venice Neighborhood Youth Association.

 

Name some kind humans in your life that have positively affected you and why?

The person that has most positively affected me is my mom. She was one of 10 children growing up on a farm in the Philippines, immigrated to the United States at 18 to complete her master’s at USC, and raised three children while running multiple businesses. Even though we lost her when I was 16, she is hands down the biggest influence on who I am today…

My wife, Lauren, who has a heart of gold and is one of the best humans I know, pushes me to be a better man every day.

My sister, Dawn, is a smarter, more compassionate version of me. Even though she’s a couple of years younger than I am, she’s always been an older, wiser soul.

My friend, Dylan Jones, leads by example, balances family and chasing big surf, and never lets his memories be bigger than his dreams.

 

What is a message, life lesson, or kindness quote you want to spread and leave with the Kindhumans community?

“Unexpected kindness is the most powerful, least costly, and most underrated agent of human change.” – Bob Kerrey

Learn more about Donald and his photography: www.donaldmiralle.com