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
curiosity
Susannah Charleson
wondering author. canine specialist. student of shirley.
Susannah Charleson is the author of New York Times bestseller Scent of the Missing and, recently, The Possibility Dogs. She is a flight instructor, canine search-and-rescue specialist, and service dog trainer.
When I was in my twenties, I remember reading a magazine article about actor/author/activist Shirley MacLaine celebrating her fiftieth birthday. MacLaine had just published her controversial “Out on a Limb” and had recently won Best Actress for “Terms of Endearment.” The interview filled her with some wonder. Still beautiful and vibrant (one commentator remarked that if she was fifty, she wore it well: “Twenty-five each leg,” he said appreciatively). Why did I, a very young adult, pay attention to that article so particularly? Decades later, I still remember this comment she made:
“Just when people think I should be settling down, I like to shake things up.”
MacLaine in midlife was more, not less, alive. She was voraciously curious, unwilling to be bored.
That good energy carries. I’m lucky in my life working beside dogs, a career begun when I was 40 (Late, said one friend, unsure if she approved this odd departure. Timely, said another, who did). Restless and inquiring, my canine provocateurs show me the wider world that they inhabit.
My dogs are also unwilling to be bored. One might expect this from the nine-month-old puppies, with their new-minted brains, but the seniors in my house are just as quickly curious even in spaces they know very well. A neighbor passes with the same dog along the same sidewalk at virtually the same time every morning, and my dogs—who are no fools, they know this pair—pay great attention every time. That easy fascination could read as simplemindedness, but I watch their thoughtful watching, the semaphore of ears across sound, the nose-work that maybe tells them what the human had for breakfast and whether her dog caught that squirrel or not. They know so much more in a moment than I do. And I want to know!
I have run next to a search-trained dog that can translate scent and indicate to me whether the missing person we approach is distraught, calm or wounded, even before we have even seen that soul trapped in a ravine! I know that animals use all their senses to gain a wealth of story we humans may miss. My dogs have taught me to shake things up by staying curious, by assuming less, by using every sense I can bring to bear. Now in my fifties, I find renewal in that—right brain, left brain—twenty-five each side.
– Susannah Charleson
Explore More Meaning
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actress. author. re-creation guide.
Dee Wallace has worked as an author, teacher, and actress (she played the mother in the film E.T.) in film, television, and stage for over 30 years while being devoted to the art of self-healing and to her daughter. [www.iamdeewallace.com]
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constant learner. memory catcher. inspirational artist.
Jenni Young is an award-winning film producer, professional photographer, and life coach who lives her dream daily, serving people around the world seeking health and inspiration. [www.simplereminders.com]
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philanthropic advisor. consultant. impactor.
Laura Probst is a philanthropic advisor and the owner of Do Good. Make Money., a consulting firm that helps companies do just that.
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singer. songwriter. harmonizer.
Jeff Tweedy is the lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter for the Chicago-based rock band Wilco. [www.wilcoworld.net]
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word-wise fundraiser. worldwide contributor. butterfly embracer.
Keidi Keating is an editor, ghostwriter, and publisher. She is currently living between Spain and the United States. Along with The Light, she writes books that spread Loving and Light to the world. [thelightnetwork.com/thelight]
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bestselling author. childhood reconnector. messy laugher.
Michael Neill is an internationally renowned transformative coach and creative sparkplug to CEOs, celebrities, and royalty. His books have been translated into thirteen languages around the world. [www.insideoutrevolution.com]
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fearless creator. passionate solopreneur. avid supporter.
Michelle Ainslie is the go-to expert for aspiring creative solopreneurs who want to quit their boring jobs and make money doing what they love. [www.michelleainslie.com]
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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, ?sherman, loving husband, and father.
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