Over the past few years, I've met hundreds of people who are reinventing their work so that it's more meaningful and a way to make a difference in the world.

As regular readers of this column know, I call them New Radicals: people like you and me who've discovered...

It's midwinter. Bleak (even after a much-needed January thaw north of the 49th parallel). Maybe, like me, you're craving something fun?

I went looking for music that would make me feel happy. Flipped through my CDs (does that date me? could've said LPs, no, wait, that's cool again, but I...

The devastation of Haiti has captured the world's attention. Wouldn't it be great to say 'thank you' to the people who've brought us the news and put a human face on what's happening on that tiny island nation?

The Dart Awards for Excellence in Coverage of Trauma is...

Like you, I've been following Arianna's sleep challenge. And I've been thinking about the kinds of things that cross our minds when we lie awake in the middle of the night.

Like Haiti.

Or any of the huge, complex challenges we face as a human family. Lots of...

Anderson Cooper of CNN, reporting from Haiti on Wednesday night, said, "Wherever you are, hug a loved one close and thank God you are not in Port-au-Prince tonight."

I'd add, "that you're not an old person trying to cope in Port-au-Prince tonight".

We don't think about what it means to...

Where sleep is concerned, I've tried everything. And I do mean everything. After years of practice, I've got great sleep hygiene. You know the drill: a darkened bedroom, no caffeine after 2:00 p.m., a consistent bedtime, etc., etc., etc. I've even tried all the crazy stuff, like feet facing only...

HuffPo readers like you tell me that, while it's great to hear inspiring stories abut people making a difference, you also want to know how to become a New Radical (for more about New Radicals, please see archived articles).

So, this year, I'm going to profile emerging...

Over the Christmas holiday, a friend and I were walking around Toronto. As we turned into one of the city's famed back lanes, lined on each side with garages, I recalled a story I once heard. Mary Jo Leddy, a social activist and author, was billeting a...

What's a New Radical? Someone who's found a way to put the skills acquired in her career to work on the world's greatest challenges. Men and women like you and me who've discovered that how we earn our living can become the way we give back. (For more, please see...

Silence. Allowing space for contemplation. For creativity. For whatever comes. Yes, John Cage is an inspiration for this post. An American composer, Cage was one of the leading figures in...

Let me confess up front: I'm a Scots Presbyterian workaholic. I'm not quite Gekko ("Lunch is for wimps" was the immortal line of Michael Douglas' character in the 1980s film, Wall Street). Yet Thoreau's thought is always in the back of my mind, "As if you could kill time without...

"You Canadians!," my cabbie laughed as I climbed into the back seat and complained about the cold. "Always talking about the weather. In my country, we have two weather reports. 'Now it is the rainy season' and 'Now it is the dry season'."

That lighthearted exchange came to mind when...

I just spent two days with some smart, thoughtful people, talking about something everyone knows is coming, but most of us are in denial about. No, not climate change. Our aging population. Here's a small slice: in 2000, there were 600 million people 60 and over worldwide. By 2025, that...

Why is "Banks Giving" a headline we never expect to read? And isn't it time we acted in unison to do something about that?

Like you, I've grown increasingly uneasy about the money financial institutions are making. And the obscene bonuses paid to senior people (you can be sure that...

Are you like me -- suddenly realizing that the holidays are only weeks away? And are you totally and completely convinced that you don't want to give the same old, same old this year? Then my favourite New Radical gift ideas might just come in handy. Hopefully you'll find something...

When Elham Seyed Javad heard that five Muslim girls were ejected from a tae kwon do tournament in Montreal for wearing hijabs, she felt sick to her stomach. "I was in shock because I play a lot of sports myself - especially soccer - and to have to stop playing...

The publications that are thriving these days are those whose readers are wealthy. New York Times columnist Roger Cohen, for instance, just wrote about Tatler, the gossip magazine about the lives of the very rich, which is doing well all over the world.

I read the...

This is the true story of a couple of ordinary Americans who thought, once they turned 60, that life would be uneventful. That maybe the marriage of their three children - and the grandchildren to come - would be the highlight. Instead, they've just won a prestigious award that honours...

"Math is the easiest subject for kids to learn."

Say what?

Yup, that's what John Mighton believes. And he's got everything he needs to back up this counter-intuitive assertion.

Let's start with the commonly-held view. "Math is hard." Even Barbie said it. We somehow grow up thinking that either you're...

Last night, I sat at the top of my steps and wept. I cried over all the problems in the world. And for how tired I am. That's not something that's easy to admit, but I think it warrants saying.

What brought it on? That afternoon, I had coffee...