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Hello hello, Reader!
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I never grew out of playing pretend. Sometimes, I like to imagine what my business's alter ego is. I want to think it's playful and charming like Paul Rudd, but I'm pretty sure I come off as more of a Jess from New Girl or Linda Belcher from Bob's Burgers.

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A fun, creative strategy is imagining your creative project or business from that alter ego's perspective. Once, I spelled workshop as Workshbop in an article about webinars. Daydreaming — as usual (like JD from Scrubs) — I started imagining how a Linda Belcher-designed workshop would go. Long story short, I now own the domain www.workshbop.com....and I haven't done a thing with it.
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Who are you? Beyonce's alter ego is Sasha Fierce. And if it's good enough for Queen Bey, it's good enough for you. Let's get a discussion going on LinkedIn about our creative alter egos. I'll post one today.

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Corrie Oberdin vs Creative Block

Meet Corrie Oberdin. She does social strategy and content development for organizations that want sustainable social media programs (and she's a real-life Dancing Queen).
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When I asked her who her creative/business alter ego was, in true Corrie fashion, she said she didn't need one — she's her own alter ego because not everyone turns into a pole dancing/aerialist badass half-time. ;) "Funny, the studio I am going to start teaching at in March is called Alter Ego Dance Space."
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Corrie is also on my imaginary freelance board of directors (more on that another time) because of her free spirit and our motivational chats (and she's always sending me some creative shimmies, support shimmies, get-well shimmies, etc...)

Anyway, Corrie was kind enough to answer three questions about how she conquers creative block:

Why/how are you busy?

I've got two kids and a freelance business, and I regularly train for my sport (aerial dance) on top of trying to be somewhat well-rounded with reading and other hobbies & stuff, so the question usually feels like, "What DOESN'T make me busy?" Typically, what makes me busy are circumstances outside of my control - the weather (we're currently on Day 3 of snow days for the first full week back from school after the holidays), sick kids, events for clients or my family - those things make me feel more "busy" than (for example) multiple deliverables at work.

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

Movement! If I've been sitting at my desk too long, things get UGLY, so I make sure to go on a few walks around the block every day, and I will also put a song on and do a freestyle or improv movement. One of my favorite improv movement games is to put on a song and then make shapes based on what I see — lines of the furniture in my room, lines on the floor, the way my cat or my dog walk in the room, grains in the floorboard —it never fails to get me out of whatever funk I'm in. (The only risk if you're me? That 30 minutes later you look up and realize you really do need to get back to work even if you want to keep dancing).

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 don't have a one-time example because it happens all the time. Novelty and "freshness" can be challenging when your job is to pump out something regularly (i.e., blog posts, social posts, emails, dance sequences, meals, outfits...it doesn't matter what the "it" is, it'll get repetitive after a while).

What I do in those instances may feel counterintuitive to people who always feel they have to be novel. I revisit my fundamentals. It may feel like the basics can be boring, but revisiting old posts, reviewing campaigns from last year, dancing with those first few steps you learned, or cooking the first meal you ever made — AGAIN...coming to them with more experienced eyes and playing with them can be magic.

Want to hear more from Corrie? You can follow her on Threads, Twitter or sign up for the Chaos Freelancer newsletter.

A few bits from me:

Creative quick tip: There's nothing like a walk in falling snow, but a stroll on the beach takes it to the next level. ​ Recently, brutal waves and coastal flooding bullied Maine's coast, and I was curious about the aftermath. ​ Look below! I found a kayak embedded in the sand and made up its backstory to entertain myself. ​ Try going on your own adventure this week and create a backstory about what you find.

Fun find: Whatever it is, I'll have what he's having. Maybe he should be my alter ego. ​ Jason Kelce is a teddy bear dressed in a football jersey (or not in this case) who seems to wear his heart on his sleeve. ​ I hope we all find this level of well-deserved creative joy and hype each other up as we make our way.

My creative work: The Artist's Way update: ​ Not sure if this is my vibe and the time required feels unrealistic for my busy life. ​ For example, last week, I had to make three separate round-trip school pickups for my kids. Then, I had to toss other errands and client work in with that. It's tough to fit in time for morning pages with that nonsense. ​ There's value in things like creative dates, and I have heard others swear by morning pages. So, I'll keep chugging along for now. ​ ​

In keeping with my football theme, what does "falling in the pit" for luck mean to you? Is there a ritual you do to feel more creative? If not, what would you be willing to do to be more creative? Hit reply and let me know. I always write back. ​ All the best, ​ Jana Sending creative luck shimmies. 👯‍♀️ Was this forwarded to you? Get your 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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