On the magic of collaboration..!

One of the struggles of the digital age
is constantly feeling like you need to create.
Like you should be creating more, over and over,
again and again, ceaselessly.
That if you’re not tweeting and Instagramming
and writing another article, another post,
another piece, you’re losing out on precious time
or views or likes or followers or whatever metric
it is that you want to call “success.” I mean, hell,
Harper Lee didn’t publish another book for DECADES,
and now her publisher is sending another one to press.
That’s how starved we are for constant content.

 

But the thing is, when you’re so busy making stuff,
you can sometimes forget how to live your own life.
You know, offline. Remember that place?
It’s the one where none of those numbers
and hearts and stars matter.

 

Believe me, I know how tough it is.
My day-to-day life is filled with notifications
and posts and tweets and thinking critically
about how to maximize all of the stuff
that does not and cannot exist offline.
There are ways to sign off and let a computer
do its thing, but even then, I have
to keep one eye on it because an algorithm
cannot make a critical judgment call.
To work in social is to never not be working.
And at my last job, I spent the bulk
of my time writing nearly all day long, every.
single. day.
There was no overarching editorial schedule,
just that I knew I had to write something.
That freedom was both amazing and terrifying.
And I was chasing numbers and page views,
and though I was rather good at making
those numbers happen, eventually,
I burned out. You always burn out eventually.
You run out of things to talk about.
You run out of ways to write the same story
for the 20th time.

 

So you find ways to recharge.
You close your laptop. (Dear God,
I hope you do this regardless,
it’s good for your health and your sanity.)
You meet up with friends.
You swipe a few times on Tinder
and maybe go on a date.
(Or you just swipe and find your story
in those digital interactions, whatever works for you.)
You go for a run, you grab a coffee, you talk
to the barista and see how their day’s going,
you buy yourself flowers at the farmer’s market
you swear you’re going to visit more regularly…
you live your one, singular, unrepeatable life.

 

And if that doesn’t work —
if even through all the soul-searching and life-living
and story-gathering, you’re still left unsure —
you can always collaborate.

You can find people to create things WITH.

 

You don't have to do it alone.