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Hanging in there, Reader?
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This silly little newsletter seems ridiculous in the shadow of everything. More has happened in the US in the last two weeks than usually happens in a year. A lot of us are wondering:

1. What the actual hell?

2. What's next that we should prepare for?

At the very least, you know someone is walking this road with you. Channeling creativity through overwhelm, rage, confusion, and mental exhaustion feels like walking through the desert with an empty Gatorade bottle, so give yourself grace.
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Where would you even find time for creativity when you're saving your fellow citizens? Well, I have an idea:

Legislators are receiving hundreds of calls and emails from constituents. My guess is (based on the generic responses they're sending me) that they don't read them. Their staffers simply look at the topic and make a tally for that specific issue. Who's to say you can't be creative while using your voice?

Hear me out. Imagine an email calling for legislative oversight — but in haiku.

How about a short story about the effects of book banning and dismantling the Department of Education?

A protest folk song voicemail about the effects of tariffs on international relations and the economy?

Please let me know if you actually do this. We could start a creative activism revolution.

Douglas Paton vs Creative Block

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Douglas Paton is your dude if you want to channel some chill vibes. He's a writer, outdoorsman, and musician who has mastered task-switching to recenter his focus and generate creative ideas. Fly fishing is his way of exploring his area and unwinding.

Why/how are you busy?

I’m a full-time freelance writer and writing coach. I’ve been writing professionally for 26 years and freelancing full-time for the last 16 years. Between that, having a family, and sneaking off into the mountains, I stay pretty busy.

What’s a favorite quick tip/activity for a creative burst?

That depends on what I’m trying to do. If I’m on a deadline, music helps unlock the creative part of my brain pretty quickly - both playing it and listening to it. I usually have a guitar within reach, and I’ve found that spending a little bit of time playing while I’m trying to get something done helps me think about my problem in the background while focusing on something else.

Listening to music is another good one. When I wrote fiction, I discovered that instrumental music (like jazz) taps into that part of my brain that gets excited by music without me becoming overwhelmed by the part of my brain that likes to sing along.

When I’m not on a deadline, I’ll get out of the house for a bit. Taking a walk or spending the day fly fishing usually helps me feel relaxed enough to be creative.

Would you please tell the folks about a time you were creatively stuck and how you pushed through to get your creativity pumping again?

I burned out pretty hard about 10 years ago. I was really struggling to figure out what I wanted to do creatively, and, worse, nothing I was doing seemed to be working. I stepped away from it entirely to preserve my mental health. I shifted my focus away from writing for children to writing for the tech industry. Once I built up a bit of stability, I started dipping my toes back into writing for pleasure again.

It took a long time, though, like most of the last 10 years, to get back into a space where I was ready to be creative again.

What do you do for fun that helps keep you going (especially things outside the norm)? Why?

I tend to split my free time between playing video games and fly fishing.

Video games are how I break up my day. When I wrap up work before my daughter comes home from school, I’ll spend a little bit of time unwinding with some video game or other. I’ve been playing since I was a kid, but only recently started using it to break up my days like this.

Fly fishing is my little escape from the day-to-day. When the weather is nice, I try to slip out of the house during the week to enjoy some quiet time. It helps feed my desire to explore, especially the world around me, and helps me stay grounded. There are so many little details that you have to pay attention to while fly fishing that I often forget all about work or other related stressors.

I’ve been obsessed with fish for nearly as long as I can remember, so moving into an area where the fishing was close (and exceptional) really kicked it into overdrive. The funny thing is that this is slowly taking over as a career thing for me. When I first started fly fishing, I started a blog to work through everything I was learning. I’m still puttering away with the blog, but I’ve also written for a bunch of outdoors and fly fishing-specific publications, and I’ve spoken at outdoor media conferences about freelancing.

Want to hear more from Douglas? You can follow him on Instagram, Bluesky, LinkedIn, and visit his blog.

A few bits from me:

Creative quick tip: This week, I picked up Austin Kleon's Keep Going*. It seemed like a good time. ​ Kleon talked about the importance of routine. Yes, we know to work out, meditate, work on a course, blah blah blah. Sometimes, those are big asks. ​ What about more enjoyable routines? Goethe and Kleon have the right idea. Please tell me what you would include in a daily joy routine! (Mine involves coffee in some form.) *Affiliate Link

Fun find: I interviewed Dr. Jenny Nash, head of Education Impact for LEGO Education. She was a breath of fresh, creative air. ​ She advocates more opportunities for creativity in learning and endlessly researches the power of learning through creativity and play. Suffice it to say, we're onto something. ​ If you run across podcasts that include her, I'd encourage you to give them a listen. ​

My creative work: Trying not to doomscroll and writing to legislators. That's all. I guess I have been making up bedtime stories for my daughter, but even those are lackluster. This, too, shall pass. ​ Speaking of which, students in my creativity classes loved this OK Go video back in the day. ⬇ ​ Maybe it's time to make another Rube Goldberg Machine. Please send a video if you do.

Experts tout the importance of community right now. I'm so thankful you're here and part of mine. Please invite some of your favorite people to the Creative Block Party. ​ Also, please share your feedback. What do you want more of or less of in this newsletter? Any new ideas? I'd love to turn this into a well-researched creative resource for you. via Mochimochiland on GIPHY​ ​ Was this forwarded to you? Get your own subscription here. ​

P.S. Want to support creative research and this newsletter? ​ I've crafted blog posts, case studies, and email sequences for LEGO Education, GaggleAMP, Veeqo, Omniscient Digital, Hopin, OpenPhone, and Sprout Social. ​ How can I lighten the load for you and your team? Hit reply or contact me here.

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