Whenever I'm feeling low, I go to lunch with friends who work at a big enterprise software company, preferably in the financial or health sectors. Those guys m

Whenever I'm feeling low, I go to lunch with friends who work at a big enterprise software company, preferably in the financial or health sectors. Those guys make me feel like my job is a dayspa. I've also found that constantly coming up with new ideas and suggestions for your company's core product, even if they never get executed, is very fulfilling. When you are doing so, you are often checking out new technologies or processes and the learning experience leads to the sparks that ignite my creativity and passion. Side projects are nice and all, but it sounds like you want social acceptance for l33t hacks as well. I think you may just have to accept the fact that many developers are treated like factory workers and their managers are the ones rewarded with respect (and cash) on behalf of their best works.