
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
blues dance

Blues dancing. My cheeks flushed with my first impression of it. Checking out the website of the nearest blues dancing venue, I noticed their logo: a simple two-dimensional sketch of a couple, entwined in a dance, sinking into their own embrace, the womanʼs leg draped over the manʼs. I could already tell this dance was too sexy for the polite life Iʼd resigned myself to. Surely, good girls didnʼt blues dance…
Three weeks later, I found myself on the dance floor, ready to blossom into what Iʼd discover as my calling: engaging in the dance, learning from it, and teaching other women how to do the same on the literal dance floor and on the metaphorical dance floor of life itself.
Inside the arms of an amazing lead is the most transporting place on earth. Melting into the luscious rhythm of his embrace, I tune into sublime harmony. Our bodies undulate to what we hear in the music and in each other. The tiniest movement by one of us is sensed, felt, and answered by the other in a realm far beyond cognition. Building tension, releasing tension, building, releasing. Fluid turns, playful mimicry, bold lunges. Dips all the way to the floor, where my headʼs held strong in his hand, and my fingertips and hair grace the hardwood.
These moments are so precious that I used to grieve the loss of them before theyʼd even gone. During the dance, Iʼd think real hard, mentally transcribe the event the best way I could, and roll it up for safekeeping in my memory bank.
But when Iʼd done all that hard work, Iʼd inadvertently left my body, and thereby left the experience. Iʼd been so intent on ʻowningʼ the experience that Iʼd never fully had it at all. Realizing this, I asked myself, “What would happen if I let go completely and immersed myself in the moment? What if I really dove in? What if I trusted that more moments would flow to me after this one, so it was okay to just enjoy?”
These days, slowly pulling apart from a magnetic and otherworldly dance, my whole body is a bell, ringing and ringing with resounding pleasure. The electricity of our connection has melted me like butter. Itʼs curious but irrelevant that I canʼt remember any of the details. Iʼll just take another, please.
– Sarah Jones
Comments