
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]

Arianna Huffington is the co-founder and Editor in Chief of the Huffington Post and the author of twelve books. [www.huffingtonpost.com]

Seth Godin is a prominent author, blogger and speaker. [www.squidoo.com/linchpin]

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]

Norman Lear has enjoyed a long career in television and film. He is also a political and social activist and philanthropist. [www.normanlear.com]

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]

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]

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]

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]

Liz Phair is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. [www.lizphair.com]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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
the loving

Love is one of those wonderful English words that can be both a noun (a thing) and a verb (an action). For me, it’s best when it’s both at the same time, as in “Nothing is more important than the loving.”
Love is my guiding life principle. Whenever I have a decision to make or an activity to undertake, love is my reference. I use it as both my compass and my North Star. Love is not only what makes life sweet, but also what lights my way when I find myself in the dark. Love comforts me in the silence.
When I weighed 350 pounds, love is what I had to learn to give myself unconditionally in order to finally understand that the weight I was carrying was about self-abandonment and self-rejection. Once I poured acceptance and loving into myself, the radiance of that loving molded into one of the keys of my transformation. By learning to accept myself – fat and all, by learning how to make it okay to be me exactly the way I was, I also learned how to love myself and use that energy to become the 135-pound me I am today. Loving is the alchemy of transformation.
There’s certainly nothing new about the dream of a life that’s love-centric. Poets and spiritual teachers have been pointing the way for centuries, and we’ll all wake up to it in our own time. I’ve been blessed with wonderful children, remarkable grandchildren, and close, faithful friends and teachers who’ve helped me transform through the loving they’ve demonstrated. Thankfully, I’m now able to pay it forward.
The world has a way of reminding us that no one is exempt from what they’ve come to learn. Sometimes those lessons can seem daunting. At those times, nothing is more important than the loving.
– Jan Shepherd


Explore More Meaning
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supporter. nature whisperer. weather survivor.
Judy Hill is a Supportive Life Therapist, Wellness Coach, and CEO of Redwolf Coaching and Consulting. She mentors creative consciousness with compassionate insight, guiding people toward external resolutions through their internal contributions. [www.redwolfcg.com]
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singer / songwriter. dream interpreter. angelic messenger.
Former Canadian pop star, KAYA, walked away from fame to pursue a deep inner spiritual calling. His profound angelic encounters and intensive dream work led to his emergence as an international spiritual teacher with his wife, Christiane. [www.kayadreams.com]
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