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. TED-talker. no-bullsh**er.
Sophie Chiche, founder of lifebyme.com, is the single mom of an amazing 16-year-old, Leah, and wicked step-mom of 22-year-old, Sarah. They all live in LA. You can find them boxing, cooking, collaging, hosting brunches, laughing their head off or bickering over who’s washing and who’s drying the dishes.
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
consciousness
Craig Hamilton
teacher. scholar. spiritual evolutionary.
Craig Hamilton, founder of Integral Enlightenment, is a pioneer in the emerging field of evolutionary spirituality. He’s a participant in the Synthesis Dialogues, a think tank presided over by the Dalai Lama. www.integralenlightenment.com
I derive my sense of meaning from awakening to a larger evolutionary context for human existence. Many of us are looking for personal meaning. I like to ask a bigger question: What’s the purpose of human life? We’re part of an unfolding evolutionary process that began with the Big Bang 13.7 billion years ago and continues to unfold, in ever more glorious, diverse, complex, beautiful, harmonious, integrated manifestations.
About 35,000 years ago, one of the animals on Earth went through a dramatic mutation – the Big Bang of the human mind – when our self-reflective consciousness emerged. We became aware of ourselves and began to reflect on the question of meaning. That’s when people started painting on cave walls and putting flowers on the graves of the dead.
Now we’re at a point where significant numbers of us are starting to awaken and understand that we’re part of an evolutionary process. Like others, I’m realizing that I am the Big Bang. I am that creative explosion in motion. In essence, everything I am emerged out of it, and the deepest part of myself is that evolutionary impulse. We humans are the leading edge of the Big Bang, at least in this corner of the universe. We now have the ability to discern our trajectory – the direction of our evolution.
When we step back and look at the broad sweep, we see that evolution has been on a trajectory toward greater complexity, but also greater cooperation – from the first self-replicating molecule through the gradual development of increasingly complex partnerships in larger and larger circles of cooperation.
The Big Bang is alive in us and wants to go somewhere. Where it wants to go is toward greater and greater connectivity and cooperation and love.
I find meaning in my willingness to give myself over as a servant of this evolutionary process. I want all of my interactions to be expressions of higher and higher orders of harmony and integration and unity, bringing higher and higher manifestations of the good, the true, and the beautiful. That’s where our evolutionary impulse is trying to take us.
If I realize that I’m responding in a way that doesn’t feel in alignment with everything I just described, I take a step back and re-anchor in the deepest truth I know. I reflect deeply on the larger context. It’s hard to find much meaning when the context is just myself, but if I’m willing to stop and reflect, to ask myself What am I really doing here?, then I realize it’s not for me. None of it is for me. It’s all for conscious evolution.
- Craig Hamilton
Explore More Meaning
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pilot. search dog handler. grandmother.
A retired PE instructor, grandmother of four, and passionate flyer, Wilma Melville founded the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation to address a gap in our nation’s disaster response network. www.searchdogfoundation.org
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fisherman. tree surgeon. renaissance man.
John Schindler is a renaissance man. He served in the Army and he owned a natural foods grocery. He’s a master butcher, tree surgeon, chef, baker, fisherman, loving husband, and father.
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life coach. radio show host. truthteller.
Life coach Laurie Gerber, President of Handel Group Life Coaching, is passionate about personal development. She leads large groups, blogs regularly, and hosts a radio show. www.handelgroup.com
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practical philosopher. clarity catalyst. dad.
John Groberg is a husband, father, serial entrepreneur, writer, and executive coach. His writing and coaching focuses on assisting others to grow in their own clarity. http://johngroberg.com
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coach. belly follower. superhero.
Jenny Shih is a coach and consultant for right-brained, creative entrepreneurs. She helps "big idea" people implement their world-changing visions. www.jennyshih.com
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filmmaker. lateral thinker. mellow visionary.
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Marc Rosenbush is an award-winning film director, writer, and producer who connects seemingly unrelated ideas – like Zen and film noir, vampires and compassion – to entertain, enlighten, and inspire. www.lightwheelent.com
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singer. musician. crier.
Liz Phair is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. www.lizphair.com
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children’s author. conscious parent. blue sky thinker.
Nick Kettles’ twin passions – storytelling and the quest for self-realization – have guided his career as a writer, spiritual teacher, coach, and, more recently, his experiences as a parent. www.blueskyofhappiness.com
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