Creativity, Red or Blue?

In recovery, the occupational therapist

assigned me a task. See this beaded

bracelet? I want you to replicate it for

me. Be as precise as you can. Take your

time and arrange your beads the same

way as the original. You may begin. And

I did, threading one bead in proper order

after another, referencing the sample

piece occasionally for placement and color.

When completed, I handed her my work.

You know what this tells me, she said after

carefully studying what I had done? No what?

I responded, expecting some approval for

completing the task in a respectable time

and with no prolonged hesitation? This one

bead which you placed in the middle here

is red instead of blue, that’s called a crea-

tive solution. Problem being, you didn’t ask

me for help when it was needed. I admitted

to her that I wanted to get the job done on

my own. Look, I came back at her in my new

found sobriety. What’s wrong with using some

creativity occasionally? You’ve only known me

me for twenty-minutes. It isn’t really fair for

you to judge. I got the damned thing done,

didn’t I? So what, the bead factory is going

to fire me for creativity? That’s not the point,

she told me. Well, this isn’t rocket science,

I added. Why in hell does it matter anyway?

Besides, with my lack of interest for pin-point

accuracy, the folks at NASA would never need

my expertise to help put a man into space.

And as far as this hideous bracelet you gave me

goes, frankly I prefer a red bead over the blue.

Chris Hanch 6-8-19