Collaboration

Marcy 6

I am thankful for collaboration. Without it, we would always be lone wolfs (no pun intended, Anne-see below), working in isolation and always alone. Sometimes collaboration makes things more difficult, but the time spent overcoming differences makes the end product so much better than simply the sum of the individual parts. Other synonyms of collaboration are partnership and teamwork, two of my very favorite words.

Pictured above are myself and Anne Wolfe, a nurse, a very talented artist, and friend of our family. She is married to Hawley Wolfe, the pastor of our church. Anne and I have been collaborating on a new children's book for the past several months. Previously, I had done page design for a book she wrote and illustrated as a gift to her son-in-law and another she wrote about an experience my family had with a snake during Hurricane Isaac. Working on those books bonded our working relationship and we decided to do further publishing projects together. As shown in the photo, we are discussing the page design and final illustrations for the children's book. In spite of what I said in the first paragraph about the difficulties of collaboration, working with Anne has never been difficult - it has been fun, productive, and sometimes "quirky"- Anne's desired interpretation of our work.

collaboration

i am a loner

i do have to admit

i enjoy working alone

maybe i’m a misfit

but sometimes i like

to be part of a team

or a partnership

that’s good for self esteem

for the result of two

is much more than double

the results of one

alone in a bubble

so no more a lone wolf

will i continue to be

working together now

for quirky results to see.

©rt tulley