I’m just about to celebrate a big milestone on my other blog. “My” other blog is actually an “our” other blog. It’s a collaborative effort between Cheryl Ruffing and myself and on August 1st it will be two years old. Call & Response began as a photo-a-day project but it has evolved into a daily creative prompt to guide our work.

I have benefited from this project in so many ways. I almost added “we” because I know that Cheryl feels the same way on many levels, but then again, I do want to let her speak for herself.

• I think we have really encouraged and inspired each other to keep going.
• We have challenged each other to learn more — to push our creative limits.
• we have been supportive during those all too common dry spells.

The first year went by in a flash. A flash filled with incredible words and images like, Feral and Shadow, Haze and Wonder. And then we stalled out a bit. When we didn’t want to continue with a daily format (after all we both have large families!) it took us a while to find a new groove. Some of that coincided with a burn-out and general dry period for both of us. But the latest incarnation of our project is going very well — more importantly it is creatively fruitful and workable within our already overstuffed lives.

But the best thing about having a creative partner, is that there is someone to be held accountable to. There is a project that is greater than both of us. My contribution and hers equals something so much more precious than either of us working alone. And it keeps us going and learning and doing. Because the secret to all creativity is really in the doing, isn’t it?

Blog collaborations offer a lot of benefits to the creators and viewers of the projects. What about you? Are you involved in any collaborative efforts? Or are than any collaborative blogs that you read on a regular basis?