Collaboration

Have you ever tried to write a book with another person? It is more difficult than one thinks.

Two separate people with two separate ideas trying to collaborate. Sometimes two minds are better than one.

It is how we socialize by getting along with other people. If it is a book there is a proofreader, an editor, a publisher, etc. No one goes it alone.

Yet it is tough when the heads knock and a decision has to be made. Who is the grown up here?

Some of the great collaborations: Rogers & Hammerstein, Lennon & McCartney, Goffin & King, Jagger & Richards etcetera had one person who was good at one skill and another person who was good at another. Together they complimented each other and results were incredible.

You may not like the other person but to accomplish the collaboration you have to get along.

The most intense collaboration is marriage.

We’ll skip that dating and crush and sharing sweaters and rings but a collaboration of marriage is a commitment. For whatever reasons you tie the knot you better like the other person.

I’ve collaborated.

A guy who is a much better poet than me wrote some of the best songs. Enjoyed sharing ideas with other writers presenting me with images I’d never seen. Jamming with pickers who are more qualified than this strummer taught me techniques and patterns and rhythms never heard on the radio.

Luckily for me I also collaborated with a few who taught me wonders never expected. A good collaborator will enjoy your company and talents and thoughts and makes you laugh and help you cry and takes you on unexpected adventures and fill in the gaps.