Collaborate to Continue

I have to admit, I’m a bit spastic when it comes to my work. As I begin working on a project and I see it forming, I get a jolt of inspiration for another project. I document ideas and blurbs to return to at a later time. I do love the jitters creativity gives me, but I know a timeline is key to completing a project. This is why I love collaborating – it structures accountability on both ends. In any line of work, there are yield signs that slow the process down. It’s important to identify the avenues that halt your process and enlist a collaborator to help you move along.

Create then refine.
Enlisting help is an invitation to revisit the fire that initiated your project. You have to introduce the idea so that your collaborator can meet you where you are. Then, the conversation continues. You begin to ask each other questions to refine the idea. In the end, the idea becomes so clear because it’s being viewed and refined through another perspective than just your own.

Stretch to grow.
Collaborating gives you the freedom to stretch your vision. When you’re working on your own, it’s hard to see your project any other way. It will inevitably lead you to frustration when your work doesn’t resemble what you had initially envisioned. But, I think projects should have a journey and they should mature along that journey. If your work resembles your initial concept, then there’s no growth.

Checkmark and progress.
Sharing the lead allows you to move on to another project. It restricts you from over-obsessing and allows you to call your part “finished.” You then have the opportunity to stay inspired and stay creative. It’s as if you are recycling your energy and injecting it back into your work. Together, you’re breeding new work.