Of our three pumpkins this year, we only carved one. Another was already rotten, and while the third, which our neighbor gave us, looked great, we decided to simply put it uncarved on the porch.
Squirrels began eating the two pumpkins immediately, starting with the one I carved. The design was ruined within one night. After Halloween, they started in earnest on the uncarved pumpkin.
On the way to church Sunday morning, I joked with my wife that we should take a funny picture of the pumpkin since, based on the design, we obviously had the stupidest, most uncreative squirrels in the world.
Yesterday afternoon, taking pictures from different angles, it was apparent that maybe I hadn’t given our squirrels enough credit. Looking at the pumpkin from a different vantage point, it seemed our squirrels might be more creative than originally suspected.
Turning the pumpkin on its side, it was clear that our very smart, very innovative squirrels had made a creative decision to carve the pumpkin from an alternative angle, using the stem as the pumpkin’s nose.
All of a sudden, I felt intense pride in our Prairie Village squirrels!
This squirrelly story’s moral? How often do we become the NO to the creativity and innovative efforts of others because we make quick judgments and suspect something’s bad simply because we don’t share their creative sensibilities? Probably way too many times.
Next time you think there’s nothing creative in what’s been presented to you, hold your opinion, listen to your creative team member, see the creation from their view, and find out if maybe, just maybe, your first impression was wrong! – Mike Brown
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