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The Truth About Burnout, Steps to Rejuvenation
I know this post is coming sooner than you or I expected it to come, so let me explain. Earlier this week, I experienced something unfamiliar. It came out of nowhere and yet came from everywhere. I imagined myself in the image of an old wind-up toy that had hit a wall; I was marching along, but I wasn’t getting anywhere. I was swimming in “noise,” as we communication folks like to call it. It was filling up my head and causing me not to think clearly. Some people might call it burnout. Burn•out (noun) /ˈbərnˌout/ def. physical or mental collapse caused by overwork or stress. “high levels of professionalism…
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5 Guiding Principles of Creative Leadership
*** Last week, Dr. Leeanne Bell McManus, Chip Rouse, and I gave a three-hour presentation to an organization entitled, “Event Planning: A Seminar in Communication.” Centered around ideas from our textbook, Event Planning: Communicating Theory & Practice, we talked about communication theory, ideas, tips and case studies, and offered strategies for leaders in event planning. Additionally, one of the aspects we talked about was creativity, and our textbook includes a chapter dedicated to leadership. I like to talk about the combination of the two: creativity & leadership. One of my favorite articles I’ve read to date on this topic is from the Harvard Business Review and it’s entitled Creativity and…
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Walking Spawns Creativity
*** The ritual for me of a Sunday late afternoon walk is the perfect way to generate creativity. All you writers out there know what I’m talking about, right? The ability to unplug, listen to the birds, and regenerate from stress while burning a few calories helps us become more creative. I do some of my best creative thinking and strategizing during this time. Late afternoon is my favorite time of day…and I love walking in my neighborhood. Who else is a walker and does his or her best thinking on your feet? 👟👟 Getting in touch with nature and decompressing helps you recenter and look at things with a…
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Overwhelmed at Work? Block Out Some Time for Yourself | Book Review
*** Here’s the scenario: Your inbox is overflowing. You have tons of emails to respond to, in addition to answering social media inquiries, answering texts, and making phone calls. You arrive at work and you already feel overwhelmed with what you must accomplish. You are all set to be productive, and then your balloon slowly begins to deflate as you sit sipping your morning coffee being totally reactionary and not proactive about what you need to accomplish. You know you have things you need to get done, and hope you can squeeze that in during the day. Does this scenario sound familiar at all? If so, I’ve got some help…
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Answering the Question: How Many Books Have You Sold?
How many books have you sold? It’s the question people like to ask me about my recently released novel entitled Inn Significant. It seems to be the question people have on their minds as the marker that indicates how successful the book has been thus far. The funny thing is, I liken the question to someone asking me about my age, how much I make, or how robust my sex life is. Sometimes we are focused too much on the results and not on the process. At least that’s what my husband and I try to teach our kids. The most important aspect revolves around the process that helps us…
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Writing Prompt Challenge
So, last night I posed a writing challenge to see who wanted to try and write a short piece of flash fiction (300-400 words) around a prompt. I posted three. I got no takers. But I did it. I chose the third. I love writing prompts because they force you to immerse yourself in a scene, setting, or situation right away. They force you to be creative, and to use your creative juices in the best possible way. The challenge was to write approximately 300-400 words. Here’s my result of Prompt #3. The Young King The young King’s hair was a rumpled mess, his clothes strewn across the floor, his…
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Handling the Insecurities of Publishing A Novel
*** It’s a challenging endeavor. I’ve done it twice now with fiction, and twice with nonfiction books. And I’m about to do it again when I release my latest, third fictional novel. There will always be anxieties that manifest themselves into insecurities about putting our work out there. The tendency to feel nervous about it is normal. We’ve invested a lot of time and energy into our stories, and we hope people will appreciate that time and energy regarding our work, too. But there are no guarantees. Some people will love it, some will think it’s just okay, and some will downright dislike it. It’s the way of the world,…
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Yes, You Are Creative
I can’t tell you how many times in my advertising and writing classes I teach at the university that I hear students tell me that they are not creative, or that they just don’t have a lot of creativity in their bones. As someone who has been teaching for over 25 years, I think I can safely say at this point that people underestimate their power to be creative, and that more often than not, they are quite capable of creating something that is better than they expected. All they need is a push and someone to convincingly tell them that they’ve got creativity brewing inside them. I’m currently reading…
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A Little Fairy Magic … and Imagination
* Mystical fairies looking after us, guiding us, keeping watch over us—it’s not a bad idea, really. We could all use a fairy godmother or godfather every once in a while. Think about how many of us wish Harry was real and there was a place called Hogwarts; why not want to cling to the idea of fantasy? Sometimes the fantastical life is far more interesting and engaging than real life. At least, I think so sometimes, which is why I make up characters and stories and plot lines and write fiction. It’s just so much more fun to believe, I think. My husband and father think the idea of…
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Walking for Mind, Body, Spirit…AND To Improve Creativity
*** It’s 1:35 p.m. on a sunny, gorgeous Friday here in Maryland where the temps are a stunning 79 degrees, and I’ve just returned from an hour-long walk. There are no excuses when the weather is this spectacular. As someone who admittedly has not taken very good care of herself over the last few years and has put other things and other people first, I’ve committed the summer to my overall physical and mental well-being. From reading to writing to exercising daily and eating better, it’s time for me to get serious about my lifestyle. I’m not hear to preach about your health; Weight Watchers, your doctor, and your own…
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5 Sure-Fire Ways To Boost Creativity
*** In the textbook I co-authored with Dr. Leeanne Bell McManus and Chip Rouse about Event Planning, we have an entire chapter dedicated to creativity. This is one of my absolute favorite topics to discuss—with friends, with fellow writers, with students, with my children, and with colleagues. Maintaining a sense of creativity is important in so many careers; in fact, there are very few careers that do not value some sort of creativity and innovation. However, the tricky part comes in when we, as people who can often be stretched balancing work and family/friends life, find ourselves zapped of creative impulses and notions. If this describes you right now, don’t…
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That Magic Moment When It All Clicks—Writing A New Novel
*** Here’s how this story goes… I published Beneath the Mimosa Tree in 2012. Baseball Girl followed three years later, and this week I am celebrating it’s one-year anniversary as it launched last March 6. At the time I began writing my first novel, I had simultaneously started writing another bit of fiction. When I had to make the choice between the two in which to fully invest my time, I picked Beneath the Mimosa Tree because it had been a story that had lodged itself in my brain for 20 years. I have no regrets about publishing it, and I always feel a sort of sentimental sweetness about that…
