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.

By David Herndon. Some people assume that creativity is a gift, bestowed or withheld by some capricious divinity. But I would invite us to consider another point of view, that creativity is a talent widely distributed among human beings, a talent which can be cultivated and developed, if one understands something of how creativity works. Accordingly, let us consider two personal statements from three extraordinarily creative individuals, the composer Mozart, the mathematician Poincare, and the painter Van Gogh.

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.”

By Stanley Popovich -- Challenge your negative thinking with positive statements and realistic thinking. When encountering thoughts that make you feel fearful or depressed, challenge those thoughts by asking yourself questions that will maintain objectivity and common sense.

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.

"Being happy is something you have to learn," says Harrison Ford. Each of us can learn something from his experiences of triumphing over negative thoughts and turning his life around. He grew up a shy kid, continually bullied at school for not 'fitting in'. He studied English in college, and hated it. It was soon afterwards that he started showing symptoms of depression..

By Steven Pinker - People have long wondered about the source of genius. Neuroscientists examining the brain of Albert Einstein said it had large and unusually shaped inferior parietal lobules, a seat of mathematical and spatial reasoning... Every aspect of thought and emotion is rooted in brain structure and function, including many psychological disorders and, presumably, genius.