Collaboration

For years, I have had the idea in the back of my head to make a tree skirt. I feel like this is the year to do it! I ruminated for a while. What style? What design? What colors? I decided on a turquoise/blue/white palette, to match the decor in the house.

But how to design it? What should I *do* with those materials? Finally I had a brainstorm: Fair Isle meets Atomic Age! Ok, so I had a color scheme and an aesthetic, but I still struggled on how to translate that aesthetic prompt to a specific pattern or design.

So I turned to Erik. He has some art and graphic design skills, so I pitched the problem to him. He came up with a great base design: purple mountains on a turquoise sky. Above that, a darker level of sky with midcentury-style starbursts.

I translated his original sketch to something slightly more conscious of specific scale, and added a row of snowflakes, because that is classic Fair Isle and I wanted it.

And this just… Makes me happy. A collaboration. Working together, building on each individual’s contributions and strengths, to create something better than either of us could have made in our own.

This is one of those experiences where I cannot help but compare and contrast my two marriages. My ex was a “divide and conquer” person: any given task belonged to one person, and they were fully responsible for executing it. Collaboration was not on the table. If I had asked my ex for help as I did Erik, he would have simply seen that as proof that I was not equipped to do the project, and thus should not do it.

I want to be clear: I don’t have a value judgement on whether collaboration or delegation is a better system overall. Delegation seemed to work for my ex; it didn’t work for me. That experience of contrast helps me appreciate how my current relationship does work for me, and I am grateful for it.

What things we can build when we work together!