author. speaker. motivator.
Affectionately known as "America's #1 Success Coach," Jack Canfield is the originator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series and a leading authority in the areas of self-esteem, achievement motivation, and peak performance. [www.jackcanfield.com]
political powerhouse. media mogul. author.
Arianna Huffington is the co-founder and Editor in Chief of the Huffington Post and the author of twelve books. [www.huffingtonpost.com]
author. speaker. linchpin.
Seth Godin is a prominent author, blogger and speaker. [www.squidoo.com/linchpin]
yogi. philanthropist. dynamic teacher.
Krishna Kaur is the founder of YOGA for Youth, a program that takes yoga, meditation, and stimulating discussions on the philosophy of yoga to urban youth. [www.yogaforyouth.org]
producer. philanthropist. tv legend.
Norman Lear has enjoyed a long career in television and film. He is also a political and social activist and philanthropist. [www.normanlear.com]
race car driver. activist. carbon free girl.
Leilani Münter is a professional race car driver and an environmental activist who uses her voice in the number one spectator sport in America as a catalyst for change. [www.leilanimunter.com]
Freedom Fighter. Philanthropist. Game Changer.
By going undercover to meet slaves and slaveholders, Kevin Bales exposed modern slavery's penetration into the global economy. He co-founded Free the Slaves, which has helped to liberate thousands of slaves. [www.freetheslaves.net]
mom. big dreamer. lady in red.
Sophie Chiche, lifebyme.com founder and curator, enjoys asking deep questions and living a life of meaning. Today she's launching Shape House, an urban sweat lodge, a place to melt away fears and fat. [www.shapehousela.com]
Writer. Entrepreneur. Daily Lover.
Entrepreneur and writer Mastin Kipp founded TheDailyLove.com, which merges pop culture with inspiration, and co-founded The Love Yourself Company, an apparel company that has started a global self-esteem movement. [www.TheDailyLove.com]
singer. musician. crier.
Liz Phair is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. [www.lizphair.com]
archbishop. author. peaceful leader.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu is Chairman of The Elders, a group of world leaders who address some of the world's most pressing problems. He works energetically for human-rights and in his ministry. [www.tutu.org]
author. ceo. humanitarian.
Zainab Salbi is the founder and CEO of Women for Women International, a group dedicated to helping women survivors of war rebuild their lives. [www.womenforwomen.org]
speaker. psychotherapist. life embracer.
Despite his physical challenges, Sean Stephenson has taken a stand for a quality of life that has inspired millions of people around the world. He's a professional speaker, psychotherapist, and author. [www.timetostand.com]
yogi. meditator. teacher.
Kia Miller teaches Yoga at Yoga Works in Los Angeles, leads teacher trainings, and runs retreats and workshops on meditation, chakras, pranayam, and mantras, and other practices. [www.kiamiller.com]
creator. writer. idea geek.
Simon Mainwaring is an ex-Nike/Wieden creative, former Worldwide Creative Director at Motorola/Ogilvy, branding/advertising writer, author/speaker/blogger, Australian, idea geek. [www.simonmainwaring.com]
Strategist. Writer. Life Coach.
Shannon Bindler is a style editor, life coach, and the co-founder of Get Up Girl, an empowerment company that inspires women to shine. [www.getupgirl.com]
Designer. Art Director. Passionate Creator.
Grammy-nominated art director/designer/photographer Mathieu Bitton has designed over 450 CDs and movie posters. He's a renowned collector of and authority on black films and their soundtracks. [www.candytangerine.com]
Agent. Producer. Photography Enthusiast.
Opus Reps founder and agent-producer Jorge Perez travels the world producing photo shoots with great photographers and celebrities. He's also very involved with Meals on Wheels in Los Angeles. www.opusreps.com
love
Bill Cumming
director. supporter. kindness power plug.
Bill Cumming is Director of The Boothby Institute. He supports individuals, children, and teachers in schools; prisoners; and YMCA and corporate staff in discovering the power of loving-kindness. [www.theboothbyinstitute.org]
There are two things that make up the essence of my life and most of my communication: loving people and allowing them to know that they are powerful enough in any moment to take charge of their lives. It’s my experience that once people know they are truly loved and their worth and value are a given, they naturally begin to be good to themselves and to others.
I discovered the power of loving-kindness bass-ackwards as I was trying to understand where violence came from in our society. Upon the rape of one of my children, my immediate response was to want to kill. (This beautiful child, now forty, is well and is a continuing inspiration to me.) The irony of wanting to solve damage with damage hit me immediately. In my search for understanding, I met a man who’d been damaged in his youth. He admitted to me – in a maximum security prison in Somers, Connecticut – that he had killed and raped. He also, at the end of a very long day, told me he was sorry that my daughter had been raped.
I am the recipient of loving-kindness from a person who has done great damage and, regardless of any good I might have done, I am capable of great violence.
The capacity for everything is within each of us. If you use the Judeo-Christian story of creation, God created the earth and then Adam and Eve. And we are each related to those who come from them. Using Darwin’s story, when we go back through humans, mammals, birds, and reptiles we come to the single-celled amoeba. We are related and we share our capacities with the whole human race.
The question is: What will I water today? I begin each day with reminding myself that we are living in a miracle. This day is precious. I am alive and breathing. Everything is interconnected. Everything we do makes a difference. The only question is: Will it be a positive difference or a negative difference? The only thing I control is me, so what do I choose to be today? I choose to be about loving-kindness today. And if I forget that this is a miracle, I take a step back, breathe, and begin to love again.
– Bill Cumming
Explore More Meaning
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etsy seller education manager. artist support system. independent motivator.
Danielle Maveal, Etsy's Seller Education Manager, works to help artists, crafters, and makers make a creative living selling their work. Her focus is to encourage, motivate, and educate. [www.etsy.com]
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speaker. author. spiritual internist.
Dr. Larry Dossey is a former internist and the author of eleven books on the role of consciousness and spirituality in health. He lectures around the world. [www.dosseydossey.com]
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yoga instructor. entrepreneur. latte-lovin' montana cowgirl.
Margaret Burns Vap is a yoga teacher and entrepreneur in Bozeman, Montana. She's a former city-girl fashionista transformed by yoga and motherhood into an outdoorsy Montana cowgirl who still loves a latte. [www.cowgirlyoga.com]
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software developer. lead writer. badmasher.
Sandeep Sood is co-founder and lead writer for badmash.tv, an animation studio based in Berkeley, California, and Pune, India. He's also the founder of Monsoon Company, a software development firm. [www.monsoonco.com]
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empowering prof. student advisor. community inspirer.
Queena Lee-Chua is a professor of math and psychology at Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines, and a daily newspaper columnist. She also works with government and civic groups to improve math, science, and education in the country.
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roadblock releaser. intuition follower. stylish gent.
Josh Reed is the Founder and CEO of Gents, a lifestyle brand for men known for their high quality products and fashionable and sophisticated design aesthetic. [www.gentsco.com]
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radio show host. heart doctor. soul sistah.
Radio show host Cathy Matarazzo is a spiritual heart doctor, soulful surgeon, and celebrity coach who's spent a lifetime studying the intricate makeup of the heart and its mechanics. [www.cathymatarazzo.com]
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furniture artist. truth teller. big picturer.
Marc Desplaines founded his furniture company, Antoine Proulx, because he was frustrated with not being able to find what he wanted on the market. His furniture is some of the most sought after in the industry. [www.antoineproulx.com]
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