How to Get to Mars – Deepen your gratitude for feats of imagination and engineering by seeing what it took to get an exploration rover to the surface of Mars. The clip is taken from the 2006 IMAX movie Roving Mars. (Video - 6:33 min.)

Kahn Academy – Sal Kahn started out tutoring his cousin in math via YouTube. Then thousands of people – including Bill Gates – discovered those lessons and wanted more. Now millions are benefiting from a free world-class education on numerous subjects.

The Universality of Song - The great choral composer Morten Lauridsen talks about how "Song is the great unifier of the world" in this clip from Michael Stillwater's "Song Without Borders."

Creativity - Is being creative mean that you are always making things?  Naomi Shihab Nye has come to understand that a big part of creativity is being open and receptive.

The Rapture of Being - In this excerpt from Jeffrey Mishlove's "Thinking Allowed" series, Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan talks about the difference between creative imagination and fantasy. (6:22 min.)

This Too Shall Pass - “You can’t let it get you down.” Be sure to stick with this video as it picks up speed.  Music by OK Go. Not to be missed. 

Last Word: Odetta - In this powerful and deeply moving interview, Odessa – the singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actress often referred to as "the Voice of the Civil Rights Movement" – speaks about music as a healing and political force. (19:50 min.)

Symphony of Science - Scientific knowledge and philosophy presented in a novel way, through the medium of music.“There’s real poetry in the real world; science is the poetry of reality” (Richard Dawkins).

Wordle - Need fresh perspective on your writing?  Wordle is a clever online tool that allows to arrange and rearrange short texts (a paragraph or two) and see in them dimensions that straightforward sentences could never provide.

The Clever One - A peculiar bird with a special talent...and the 70-year-old artist/friend who is a kindred spirit, dedicated to saving this rare bird and its habitat in West Papua.

People Get Ready - Don't miss this emotional performance, in which Crystal Bowersox (mentored by Alicia Keys) puts gratefulness into song.

A Different Way to Think about Creative Genius
Bestselling author Elizabeth Gilbert offers a funny, personal, inspiring talk about how we ruin genius and how we can release ourselves from the terror that we will not be able to keep up our artistic flow.

Recovering Buoyancy - Victoria Castle offers a quick audio refresher to help you come back into the state in which you are most "resourceful, innovative, and connected to others." To find more Necessary Mischief, visit Victoria's website.

Out of the Box - In this Necessary Mischief installment, Victoria Castle observes that geniuses let themselves make lots of mistakes.

The Global Gratitude Postcard Project allows you to paint, collage, write, and express creatively what you are thankful for, using a simple postcard.  You can also view gratitude postcards from far and wide.

Playing for Change - See and hear "Stand by Me" performed seamlessly - by musicians thousands of miles apart - in this project that connects the world through music.  It starts simply, then builds!

Schola Ministries - Explore the sacred songs of theologian, poet and musician Sr. Kathleen Deignan. Discover spiritual awakening the re-enchantment of the human spirit.

The Moontown Café is a gathering place for poets of all styles.  Enter your poem in a contest, join a forum or create a blog to develop and refine your writing.

The Commitments - This video review by The New York Times' A.O. Scott of Alan Parker's 1991 film about a working-class Dublin soul band shows how the move "takes pain and frustration and longing and heartbreak and turns it all into joy."

Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams - Given his pancreatic cancer diagnosis, Randy Pausch's "Last Lecture" at Carnegie Mellon University was not just ordinary parting advice.

Snowdays - At this website you can create your own snowflakes and share them with others.  Fun!

Soul of the Garden explores the connection between earthly gardens and inner flowering through poetry, quotes, a daily journal, extensive links and extraordinary photos.

Snow Crystals - Nature's creativity is shines through in these photo-microscopic images of snowflakes. They astound us by their minute and endless variations.

The Reciprocity Foundation provides a unique way to empower homeless youth through programs designed to foster creative work.

LifeDesigning - Find your own way to a beautiful, creative, and constantly renewed life through the articles and links on this site (in German with some English).

The Inspired Heart: An Artist’s Journey of Transformation, by Jerry Wennstrom. “ Jerry Wennstrom was a rising star in the New York art world when he decided that the ultimate creative leap was to destroy his large body of art, give away all of his possessions, and spend the next 10 years wandering, seeking, listening, and trusting God to take care of him.” (Connie Shaw, Sentient Publications)

The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, by Betty Edwards. If you’ve ever sworn you can’t draw, this book is for you!

Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within, by Natalie Goldberg. Whether you’re an experienced writer or a novice, Goldberg’s book offers seasoned guidance for letting your ideas flow.

The Artist's Way, by Julia Cameron. A program “to recover your creativity from a variety of blocks, including limiting beliefs, fear, self-sabotage, jealousy, guilt, addictions, and other inhibiting forces, replacing them with artistic confidence and productivity.” (from Amazon.com review)