What Else?

In high school, I loved math. I realize that admitting that makes me a huge nerd. And not even a hipster nerd. Just a regular one. I had two math teachers who I adored. One was Mrs. Rogers. She was from England. Her harsh exterior belied a fluffy heart. She helped me earn a 4 on the AP Calculus exam. The second was Mrs. McLaughlin. She was from New England. She helped me master geometry, a must for any quilter. She was the one who would look at me when I was completely stumped and say, "What else do you know about this problem?" In an instant, I could see the problem from a different angle and attack it a different way.

I have thought about this advice a lot since the 10th grade. I no longer need to figure out the velocity of a falling ball, or the parabolic curve and whether it's up or down. But I still have problems that need solving. I find myself asking, "What else do I know about this problem?" when I become stumped.

Yesterday I wrote that I was feeling blue. I still don't know exactly the root of my malaise, but I do know that I need to snap out of it. So what else do I know about being blue, if I don't know what causes it? I know that I tend to hibernate when I'm down. Solution? Take the kids to the park after school, leave my book at home, and chat up my fellow moms for nearly 2 hours while soaking up some sun. I know that I tend to become sedentary when I'm blue. Solution? Simple physics: an object in motion tends to stay in motion. So I get moving. I go to the gym, I fold some laundry, I go down and sew.

Also, it's important to remember that life is full of humor.