Many people choose to get scared in certain situations: thrill rides, horror movies, bungee jumping, running in front of bulls. But what about dealing with unwanted terror? And can fear ever be useful? Some artists embrace fear as an aspect of creative work. But if you feel shut down or blocked from your talents because of anxiety, there are many ways to help deal with it.

Being seduced by the comfort of routine and the known is one of the ways we limit ourselves and inhibit social change. Conservative thinking on both a personal and political level may feel safe, but can nurture stagnation. Doing more about our inertia, we can grow more effectively toward who we want to be, and help our institutions evolve.

Are people fascinated by so much in the world because of their intellectual development, or does consciously feeding our mind stimulate high level thought and creative ability? Steve Pavlina, for example, writes, "Leonardo da Vinci, considered a genius by any reasonable standard, achieved competence across a diverse set of fields, including art, music, science, anatomy, engineering, architecture, and many others. While some would argue that such wide-ranging interests were a result of his intelligence, I think it is more likely that they were the cause of it - or at least a major contributing factor."

In the film "Towelhead," Summer Bishil plays 13-year-old Jasira, a Lebanese-American girl navigating through her adolescence, including challenges with identity, sexual awakening and self-esteem.

"Don't compromise yourself. You're all you've got." Janis Joplin // One form of compromise is learned helplessness - an emotional and behavioral response in which a human being (or other animal) has learned to "give up" or act as if they are helpless, and loses motivation to act in their own best interest in a situation, even when they may really have the power to change that circumstance - or at least their reactions to it.

Is creativity possible for any of us? Yes, it is a pretty dumb question, but it can be all too easy to take on some form of belief that only kids or “artists” or “professionals” can use their minds in truly creative ways.

Summer Bishil stars in “Towelhead,” about a Lebanese American girl’s coming of age in Texas during the first Iraq war. "To Bishil it was a relief to find a part that not only suited her ethnically but actually resonated with her. Still, she found one particularly violent scene was upsetting. Afterward, she remembers going back to her dressing room and “having a little emotional tantrum and crying. And being very sad. I was really tired too... I didn’t realize the toll it took on me, until now.”

A flickering candle, the sound of surf, beating drums, psychotropic plants - those can all be seen as early “devices” for altering mental states and consciousness. Now, there is a wide range of much more sophisticated devices, software and smart drugs designed to enhance awareness and cognitive abilities, which may or may not work.

Many talented women in film such as Charlize Theron and Natalie Portman are finding more creative fulfillment as executives and producers, not waiting for better acting roles. But what sorts of challenges do women face when changing or expanding their career choices, especially in such a male-dominated business?

Depression can be a profoundly damaging and disrupting condition, spiritually and psychologically corrosive, preventing us from living fully and realizing our talents. But a number of people also say the experience has had real value for them. Psychiatrist Kay Redfield Jamison first planned her own suicide at 17, and attempted to carry it out at 28. Referring to her bipolar disorder, she has said, "I have felt more things, more deeply..."