If Brian Doyle is our favourite writer, Annie Dillard is one of his: she's been compared to Emily Dickinson and Thoreau. Annie has also been nominated the first "Earthsaint" by ecology magazine, EarthLight. This is why.

Like many gay and lesbian couples, Beth and Liz will be spending the holidays apart.

"Most of my poems begin in the cracks of my life where opposing forces collide", writes Linda Zisquit. "In poetry I am free to play with the material of my life, to use whatever I find that helps me see my way through the disorder to some coherence."

In studies at Harvard and other centers, the following tests have shown how tapping into your spiritual core can boost self-confidence, lower heart attack risk factors, reduce cravings for alcohol, and help stop smoking.