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
one love
Marc Gafni
public intellectual. social activist. provocative spiritual artist.
Center for World Spirituality co-founder Marc Gafni is a gentle and provocative spiritual artist and teacher, public intellectual, bestselling author, television personality, social activist and lover of people. [www.ievolve.org]
What’s exciting and compelling for me right now is participating in the reconstruction of meaning in a global context. The ancients used to say you can’t understand anything until you understand everything. “Understanding everything” doesn’t mean there’s not uncertainty – it means living in a context of meaning, even when there is uncertainty. Uncertainty is a place we can dance in.
Our beliefs matter. My world view matters. Your world view matters. These particular gorgeous, unique views, these gifts, give us the experience of being needed by the cosmos. When we connect with that, we connect with the spirit inside, with the whole. That sense of spirit liberates and unites us.
If a connection with spirit liberates me from a constricted sense of self into a larger self, a unique expression of God having an experience of being Marc, what can I do on a day when it doesn’t feel like God is having a Marc experience, but Marc is just having a bad day?
On such days, I do a series of practices, starting with first-person practice. I spend quiet time inside – through meditation, prayer, or in nature – opening to the vast interior of the infinite cosmos that lives in me. Somehow, I reach inside beyond myself.
In second-person practice, I ask who in the world needs my hand? There’s always someone who needs me, even if I only reach out and say hello. In reaching out, I’m strengthened and raised up. My consciousness expands beyond the grasping of my small self.
In third-person practice, I study the big picture. I practice making sense of patterns that connect. There’s uncertainty, but there’s also a lot I know. I know there’s meaning. I know love matters. I know transformation is a genuine possibility. I practice reclaiming that larger context of meaning.
The context of the world is hugely different than it was a hundred years ago. We used to have individual problems, or live in nations with their own problems. Today, what happens all over the world affects the whole world. Our response to that shift needs to be global. We’ve got to be one world, with one love. A way to begin is by articulating a world spirituality that includes, integrates, and transcends traditions, building on them to support our shared memory of the future.
As we do this, as we reweave ourselves into the great story, it helps to remember that the most meaningful moment is this one, but the next most meaningful moment is the next one.
– Marc Gafni
Explore More Meaning
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actress. book dweller. literature cheerleader.
Lauren is the Founder and Program Director of Reading Opens Minds (ROM), an organization that brings the Book Club experience across Los Angeles. A graduate of Juilliard, Lauren has appeared on numerous stages and television shows. [www.ReadingOpensMinds.org]
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writer. director. filmmaker.
J. Mackye Gruber is a writer/director who lives in Los Angeles.
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venture capitalist. kiteboarder. dream achiever.
Bill Tai rides the waves of the stock market as a successful venture capitalist and the waves of the ocean as a sponsored kiteboarder. [www.about.me/BillTai]
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singer. songwriter. musician.
Glass Pear is Welsh singer/songwriter Yestyn Griffiths, whose songs are about the fragility and transience of life and love. His songs have been heard on Grey's Anatomy, Bones, and other popular shows. [www.glasspearmusic.com]
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bestselling author. transformative educator. creator.
Katherine Woodward Thomas is the bestselling author of Calling in "The One." She's a licensed psychotherapist, speaker, transformative educator, and co-creator of the Feminine Power Global Community. [www.femininepower.com]
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painter. philanthropist. wonder enthusiast.
Chaz Guest creates inspiring paintings, drawings, and sculptures. Over the past 20 years his work has been acquired by a growing number of private and public collectors, including U.S. President Barack Obama. [www.chazguest.com]
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blogger. survivor. moment grabber.
Josephine Bila, M.S.W. is a storyteller who uses her personal experience and training in psychology to transform lives. She creates one blog post every Wednesday on her site. [josephinebila.com]
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filmmaker. lateral thinker. mellow visionary.??
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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