The Creative Now: A Chat with Sheila Hayes, Creative Director at The Washington Post.

By Cade Martin

As a kid, I spent many a dinner at a table surrounded by friends of my parents, an eclectic cast of characters — sculptors, writers, painters, creatives. That thread of creative community has remained in our offices, our teams and our collaborations. But that thread feels thinner in this moment.

So I asked, with the purpose of sharing, and of supporting and caring for this creative community in its current, uncertain reality. I asked what people are doing, how they are feeling, how they are sparking creativity. It feels important to share what we do, when we can’t do all our doing.

Reaching out first to some of the talented people I’ve had the good fortune to profile though the Capitol Communicator portrait series.  It’s my version of a virtual dinner table of sorts. Grab a chair and listen in to the conversation with Sheila Hayes, Creative Director at The Washington Post.

Sheila, what if anything, are you doing differently?

Everything. But as much as possible, like everyone, I’m trying to do a lot of things the same. Sticking to some kind of schedule, some kind of routine, makes me feel I have control over something, in a time of total disorder. I’m inspired by seeing the formation of new communities. As one of my yoga teachers said, community may look different right now. But we can still be community.

Are you staying creatively active?

I’d like to say yes. But the truth is it’s difficult to concentrate. I do find myself reaching for books I haven’t picked up in a while. Ogilvy on Advertising. Twenty Ads That Shook the World. Ramona the Pest.

How are you sparking yourself creatively?

With Toni Morrison’s words. “This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.”  So…I do language.

When I answered these interview questions initially in my profile, I talked about the need to be fluent in a sort of universal language – one not based on demographics. That universal language is changing right now. And will need to change again on the other side of this thing. So I’m challenging myself to spend a little time every day thinking about the words I use not just in the midst of this crisis, but also about how our vocabulary will be forever altered on the other side of it.

You can read Sheila’s Capitol Communicator profile here.