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We all have moments that feel just plain bad. It's human. Those moments can lead us into a downward spiral.

As a nonfiction reader, I was excited to find a book offering a compassionate look at momentary thoughts and feelings.

With a few simple strategies, begin to actively practice noticing your automatic thoughts, feelings, and external triggers.

I learned to use long-proven techniques used by therapists and experts with this insightful and actionable book.

These concepts help me catch my negative patterns.

If you're looking to be a better support system to your friends, family, and colleague, you'll be glad to hear in depth practical ideas here. These were new to me!

The validation chapter gives new ways to dig deeper into others feelings with support and emotional intelligence. How do you stay present? What should I consider when reflecting on their experience?

The book guides you through activities to put the techniques into practice. Every chapter ends with activities you can do in your real life.

In large white reversed type spread across two undersized black pages, each chapter begins with a simple and often counter-intuitive thought.

The square-shaped book isn’t quite pocket-sized, though it’s close.

The first chapter begins with a minimalist and powerful diagram that asks “Is it worth stealing?”

We borrow ideas. We aren’t the first to create with paper, canvas, clay, or even a computer. Even when those ideas seemed new, artists built work based on ideas that came before them.

The idea here isn’t to plagiarise, if that’s what you’re thinking. It’s about giving up on worry.

Stop worrying that it’s not good enough. We are our own worst critics.

Austin explains beautifully how we are all a unique remix of our parents. Our art is a unique mashup of our influences. Become a selective collector of influences. Concentrate on keeping what you love and throw out the rest.

Studies show that a focus on love helps us generate new ideas.

Look for who your favorite artists loved and who loved them and take from them what you like best.

Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration tackles Pixar and Disney from the view of technology, individuality, and artistry. All while creating a viable business.

As a graphic designer, we balance creativity and responsibility. Like Pixar, we’re in the business of bottling and selling our imaginations.

Ed Catmull, the computer scientist who became president of Pixar Animation Studios and Walt Disney Animation Studios, deals with this awesome collision of seemingly conflicting interests with sincerity right out of Wall-E.

I’m a huge pop culture fanatic: My friends would do trivia and one night they turned in a guess before I even heard the question figuring no one would know the answer. I felt shocked to learn that no one else knew who played Robin in the old Adam West version of Batman. It was Burt Ward, people. Burt Ward. Do people not know this?

So as you can imagine, I’ve laughed and cried with Pixar in the theatre over the years. Remember in Toy Story 3 when Woody and friends held hands and resigned themselves to incineration? You have no soul if that didn’t rock you to the core.

You'll love to hear the story of how creativity and business collided to make Disney magic.