This moving gift book truly stirs gratitude for the gift of life and the everyday wonder and beauty of nature. It pairs one of today's most uplifting poems--the Internet phenomenon "A Good Day," written by revered spiritual leader Brother David Steindl-Rast--with images by acclaimed cinematographer Louie Schwartzberg, whose TEDx talk and short film Gratitude, based on the poem, has gone viral on YouTube. Perfect for graduations, birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays, this inspirational package includes not just the book but a DVD with two short films by Schwarztberg (including Gratitude); Brother David's own A Good Dayvideo; and his audio track, which readers can use to make their own "gratefulness" video.

Renowned spiritual leader and Benedictine monk Brother David Steindl-Rast was born in Austria. After 12 years of training in the Benedictine monastic tradition, he received permission to practice Zen with Buddhist masters. He later went on to become a post-doctoral fellow at Cornell, where he was the first Roman Catholic to hold the Thorpe Lectureship. A leader in the monastic renewal movement, he co-founded the Center for Spiritual Studies with Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, and Sufi teachers, as well as gratefulness.org. Among his often-reprinted books are A Listening Heart (foreword Matthew Fox, Crossroad, 1983); and Words of Common Sense for Mind, Body, and Soul (foreword Thomas Moore, Templeton Foundation Press, 2002). Br. David wrote the foreword to Living Buddha, Living Christ by Thich Nhat Hanh. He lives in San Francisco, CA. See his A Good Day video: gratefulness.org/brotherdavid/a-good-day.htm. Award-winning cinematographer, director, and producer Louie Schwartzberg is an innovator in time-lapse, nature, aerial, and “slice-of-life” photography. During his career he has provided breathtaking imagery for films, television, and commercials. His work can be seen in Sex in the City, E.T., and War of the Worlds, among others, and he is currently completing production on Invisible Worlds, a 3D IMAX film with National Geographic. His short films online have topped millions of views, with his TEDx talk Gratitude (youtube.com/watch?v=xHkq1edcbk4) topping 3 million, and Beauty of Pollination 21 million: (youtube.com/watch?v=xHkq1edcbk4). Check out his work on movingart.tv and blacklightfilms.com.