Working in a creative industry is great because aiming high is encouraged and finding ways to successfully pull off wild ideas is invigorating. Approaching each new project with creative freedom is fantastic…except when you’re in a creative lull. You know what I’m talking about. It’s when your creative side forgets to show up to the party. Everything else is in place, but it’s like your creativity is stuck in a serious rut and needs help to get free. Sound familiar?

After the July 4th holiday this past weekend, some of my followers on Twitter who returned to work tweeted about having a hard time getting back into the office routine, or feeling like their brains were mush and it was difficult to get back in their groove. This seems to frequently happen after a vacation (which is ironic, because vacations are supposed to refresh us, right?). It’s hard to kick start our brains and get our creative and motivated sides pumping again when we just come off a relaxing few days of no work. Lack of creativity also happens when we get burnt out or become too accustomed to one way of doing things. Sometimes we get so stuck in our routine that it’s hard to look at something with a fresh set of eyes.

Those tweets got me wondering about the different approaches people take when they get into a slump and need to re-energize and refocus. I asked my networks on Facebook and Twitter and got some pretty interesting answers. I hope you can take a few of these suggestions and try them the next time your creative side is being stubborn.

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The very anticipated Startup Weekend Detroit will take place May 14 – 16 on the campus of Wayne State University. For those of you not familiar with Startup Weekend, it brings together a hodgepodge of creative and ambitious developers, Web and tech geeks, startup enthusiasts, marketing pros, business developers and jack-of-all-trades. Attendees are charged with building out a business idea in one weekend (essentially 54 hours). The concept of Startup Weekend centers on learning by creating. Quick decisions and non run-of-the-mill thinking are key to Startup Weekend. The goal at the end of the weekend is to be as close to possible as launching a business.

Sounds intense, right? It is, but there will be PLENTY of fun, humor and friendship at Startup Weekend Detroit. I attended last year, and it was definitely worth giving away an entire weekend. My group’s business idea never came to fruition, but I met some awesome people who have since become close compadres.

I decided to do things a bit differently this year. As a PR and social media pro, storytelling and content creating come second nature to me. Rather than participating in the business development, I will serve as Startup Weekend Detroit’s “official” content creator on behalf of my agency, Identity, which is a gold sponsor of the event. I plan to chronicle the happenings during the three days through blog posts, tweets, photos and video.

Here’s what I want to know: What type of content do YOU want? Whether you’re attending or planning to follow along at home, I want your feedback. Do you want blog posts throughout the day that detail the groups and where they’re at with their business plans? Do you want quick two or three minute interviews with attendees? Do you want tweets throughout the day that keep you updated on the groups’ progress? Do you want to know what’s working and what’s not working as the groups hash out their business ideas? Do you want photos of Henry Balanon roundhouse kicking a drink in someone’s face (true story, that HAS happened!)? Leave your suggestions in the comments.

And if you haven’t registered yet, click here to get a move on it.

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Live to Give Foundation (L2G) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that is rebuilding the state of Michigan in a personal way. The organization’s goal is to make the charitable experience more personal by showing the path of  each donation from an initial fundraiser to the final recipient it actually benefits. I first learned about L2G about a year ago when I attended a charity Tweetup that raised money for the organization. I researched it a bit more and was immediately impressed by the founders’ creative vision toward running and raising awareness about a nonprofit.

I reached out to Ryan Doyle, founder and inspiration director, to learn a little more about L2G.

How did you and the other L2G team members come up with the idea for the company?

During my junior year at the University of Michigan, I was watching a 60 Minutes special in my apartment and it dissected American economic classes as they relate to giving to charity. To my surprise, the lower class gave the more charitable contributions as a percentage of their total paycheck, followed by the middle and upper classes respectively. I thought it was so honorable that the poorest group in our country was giving more of what they had than the richest. It forced me to look in the mirror and ask myself why I hadn’t given more considering the fortunate lifestyle I was blessed with. So, I opened a Word document, starting writing and I ended up starting my own nonprofit.

I’m introducing a new feature on my blog: Q&A’s with creative types who are doing something interesting and unique that deserves attention. Cara Rosaen, Ann Arbor resident and owner of a handcrafted vintage button jewelry company called Sweet Plum Vintage, kindly agreed to let me feature her first.

**Note to readers: Cara is graciously offering 25% off your first Sweet Plum Vintage purchase. Mention that you read this post in the comments section of the checkout and you’ll be refunded 25%. Ladies – it’s a good excuse for a Valentine’s Day purchase for yourself!

Now, on to the questions…

There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs. ~Ansel Adams

This weekend I participated in the second Photowalks Detroit (Facebook page) event hosted at The Henry Ford Museum. I was hesitant at first to attend because I’m not a professional photographer and I only have a simple point and shoot camera. I thought my photos would look very amateur compared to others’ photos. Some of the people who attended the first photowalk in Royal Oak promised that it wasn’t necessary to have a fancy camera. They also reminded me that if the person behind the camera has a creative eye, then the photos will turn out great. I had nothing to lose by joining the group on their museum adventure.
I believe it’s important to explore paths outside of your comfort zone every so often because you’ll always take away something beneficial from the experience. The Henry Ford photowalk was an excellent experiment in creativity. What I lacked in camera technology I attempted to make up for in the angles at which I took the photos. It was fun to play photographer for a few hours and bond in real life with friends who I initially connected with online.

Check out the stream of photowalk tweets and the Flickr group. My photos are tagged as EstrellaBella10. Thanks a million to Becks Davis and Dave Peckens for organizing a great event!

If you live outside the metro Detroit area, I highly recommend forming a similar group, or doing some research to see if one already exists.

I read an interview with Bobbi Brown (the makeup artist) in today’s New York Times and thought her answers were very intriguing and different…in a good way. The first part of the interview focused on what Bobbi looks for in an employee and her hiring process. Two of her answers stood out to me:

• When talking about what qualities she looks for in an employee, Bobbi mentions the ability to communicate. As someone who works in a creative industry, I can relate to what Bobbi said. Communicating. To me, this is probably the biggest thing. If it’s the right person, I can barely speak and they understand what I’m saying. But if it’s not the right person, they have trouble understanding, because creative people are not like other people. Any other creative C.E.O. will understand what I’m talking about.”
• The interviewer asked Bobbi if she could only choose two questions to ask in an interview, what would they be? One of her responses was “what do you love”? All too often, interviews focus too heavily on the job and not enough on the person. It’s important to mix in personal questions like “who do you admire/look up to”, “what are your passions?”, “what do you enjoy doing in your spare time” to learn more about who the person REALLY is.

You can read the rest of the interview titled “High Heels? They Just Don’t Fit” here.

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Creativity is a very in-demand skill…and not only for the design and communication industries. Creativity can be applied to any job in any industry. There are always ways to improve products and services. Workers who think creatively are needed to help a business operate successfully.

I write a lot about creativity on this blog (hence the title), so I was interested when I saw a link on Twitter to a test that shows you how creatively you think. Hat tip to @joshlinkner for sharing this test from the Flanders DC site.

The results of this test are divided into two sections – your personal score on the creativity index and innovation in your work environment. An explanation of the results is also provided. I found the results to be very in line with my personality and my work environment. My only complaint about the test is the five possible answers:

1. this is not at all typical of me
2. this is not really typical of me
3. this is more or less typical of me
4. this is pretty typical of me
5. this is completely typical of me

I found it difficult to choose between some of the answers that are closely related, such as “not at all typical” and “not really typical”. Regardless, the results were very accurate and I think this is an interesting test. Give it a shot and see if you get the results you expected.

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I’m taking part in a very cool and creative initiative that will help make a difference in the lives of metro Detroit children.

Female bloggers from the local Detroit area are joining PositiveDetroit.net, in collaboration with Operation: Kid Equip, to provide at least 25 percent of Oakland County Schools with dictionaries for third graders.

Erin Rose of Positive Detroit, Becks Davis of Detroit Moxie, Jennifer Wright of Looking Glass Lane, Lauren Weber of Staircase to Earth’s Loveliness and I spend much of our time writing on our respective blogs. We want to help give the same opportunities to local students as we were given in our writing classes as children. We want to encourage local students to become better writers.

With the assistance of Operation: Kid Equip and its participation with The Dictionary Project, we will be distributing dictionaries specifically written for third graders who are at the dividing line between learning to read and reading to learn.

Now through March 15, 2010, we are raising money to provide roughly 2,700 third graders in Oakland County with brand new dictionaries. To give you an idea of the impact you can make, for a $20 donation, you can supply at least eight third graders with dictionaries.

An anonymous donor has graciously offered to match donations, dictionary-for-dictionary, up to the first 100 dictionaries. Just think – your donation today can double the amount of children who are being served tomorrow.

Reading and writing have always been an enormous part of my life. I started reading earlier than most children (basically as soon as I could form sensible sentences), and I was the speed reader who finished all the reading assignments first in elementary school. Knowing how to read goes hand-in-hand with knowing how to write. As a public relations professional who spends gobs of time writing, I understand that it’s an art and a craft. Loving to read early on in life, coupled with constantly using a dictionary to build my vocabulary, helped me polish my writing skills. I wish every child in this world could learn how to become powerful writers. Together, we can play a part in shaping the futures of children who enjoy reading and writing by giving them dictionaries.

Here is how you can help:

1. Click here to make a PayPal donation for $100, $50, $20 or $10.

2. Mail a check payable to:

Operation: Kid Equip
PO Box 364
Royal Oak, MI 48068-0364

Be sure to write Dictionary Project in the memo line.

3. Contact menachem@operationkidequip.org to make a credit card or
other form of payment outside of PayPal.

4. If you would like to join the female bloggers collaboration
with your blog, contact Erin Rose at positivedetroit@gmail.com.

About Operation: Kid Equip
As an all-volunteer 501(c)(3) nonprofit community benefit organization, we realize that to break the cycle of poverty and hopelessness, we have to meet some very basic, yet overlooked needs. Operation: Kid Equip acts as a conduit for collecting and distributing tangible educational and school supplies to school-aged children. Operation: Kid Equip effects long term improvement in the community by providing at-risk kids with the core necessities they need to prosper in school and in life. Visit our website at www.operationkidequip.org.

About The Dictionary Project
The Dictionary Project is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. The goal of this program is to assist all students in completing the school year as good writers, active readers and creative thinkers by providing students with their own personal dictionary. The dictionaries are a gift to each student to use at school and at home for years to come.

**Photo credit: jovike

How many times has this thought crossed your mind: “I’d have so much more time to do (fill in the blank) if I didn’t work so much.” I’ve said this to myself on several occasions. I don’t hate my job in the slightest bit, but I wish each day was about 10 hours longer so I could dedicate more time to things I love (playing tennis and reading books in Spanish, to name a few).

I learned about the Lemonade movie from Chris Brogan’s post, “Have You Been Laid Off”, and Valeria Maltoni’s post, “50 Ways to Make Limoncello When You’ve Been Laid Off”. Side note: If you are currently out of work or fear you may lose your job soon, READ VALERIA’S POST!

According to the the Lemonade movie Web site, more than 130,000 advertising professionals have recently lost their job. Lemonade showcases what happens when people who used to receive compensation to be creative in advertising are forced to be creative with their own lives. Rather than wallowing in their sorrows, the people featured in the video seized the opportunity to do something that really matters to them. The job loss was somewhat of a blessing in disguise because these creatives explored new paths and rediscovered a part of their lives that had been missing.

Do all job losses lead the person affected on a magical journey of self-exploration and creative freedom? Absolutely not. Trust me, I’ve witnessed how a job loss can completely demolish a person’s life. But it’s reassuring to watch this video and see how happy these people are because they are doing something they really love…all thanks to a job loss.

This video should also raise a few questions with anyone who watches it. Do you devote enough time to your passions? Do you need to do a better job at prioritizing what really matters in life?

We need jobs because we need to earn a living. We also need a will to live. Something deeper than living solely to climb the corporate ladder. I adamantly believe a person’s success in any career derives from passion, but passion must exist in other forms in order to have a healthy and meaningful life.

Have you found a successful way to balance work and activities you love? Has the “lemonade” affect happened to you or someone you know?

Photo credit: cfwhitney

Image from Learning 2XL

I’m a dreamer, but I’m also a realist. As much as I would love to, I can never change all the blight that exists in our world. It all comes down to the theory of quantity versus quality (this comes up all the time with my clients). You can put a little bit of effort into a lot of different things and nudge the needle ever so slightly in many areas. Or, you can start by putting all your efforts into one area, find others who are doing the same, and come together to make a tremendous impact. I realize this is a debatable topic, but I believe I have many more years of learning ahead of me before I’m ready to “conquer the world”.

I never imagined three years ago when I chose to start my career in Detroit that I would meet so many people who shared my same goals and ambitions. I’m sure I sound like a broken record by now, but many creative and talented people live, work and play in metro Detroit. I definitely have social media to thank for connecting me to people whose paths may have never crossed with mine if it weren’t for our common interest in the digital world. Many of us have bonded together, but I know there are others who for whatever reason aren’t letting their voices be heard.

To tie this back to my original point, I’ve been investing a lot of my free time to help bring together metro Detroiters with similar aspirations. Communications and social media are very broad fields, so why not reel in all those who fall into these industries and connect them with each other? The purpose is to encourage the exchange of ideas, advice and sometimes even business. Now don’t get me wrong – finding potential business prospects isn’t the intention of this collaboration, but sometimes it just works out that way. By rallying together, we create new relationships and form new initiatives that continue to propel this region forward.

So what am I involved in? Tweetea and Social Media Club Detroit are the two biggies (these are Facebook links, so you have to log in to view the pages). I wrote about Tweetea before, but SMCD is a newly-formed group that has massive potential. I’m also working on growing a group that met earlier this summer to discuss how social media has impacted the world of communications. This may seem contradictory to the idea of “quality versus quantity” because I’m investing my energies into three separate initiatives. However, the overarching goal is the same for all three: Bring people together to make an impact in metro Detroit. By starting at the core, hopefully our successes and achievements will echo nationally and we’ll gain more respect and credit for being a thriving community.

Here are a few other examples of some creative initiatives that focus on connecting people and/or highlighting the positive stories:

• Erin Rose’s Positive Detroit site
• Dave Benjamin’s and Larry Henry’s Voices of Detroit podcast series
• Detroit Startup Drinks
• Motor City Connect

I know there are many more examples, but these are the ones that initially popped in my head. If you’re part of a group that’s working to advance our community or know of one, please add a comment with the details. I’m also interested to know if other cities/regions are making these same efforts, or are we more driven because we’re fed up with all the negative attention Detroit gets?

Hopefully I’ll have the opportunity one day to make a big splash on a larger scale. But for now, I’m keeping it simple and local. Each individual person in our community has potential, but together we’re much more powerful. So, who’s with me?