Tuesday, March 13, 2012

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.

4 comments:

Mama Pea said...

I loved math, too. I once read a fortune from a fortune cookie that summed it all up in terms of what behavioral theory says about feeling blue...."If you want to be happy, act happy." Moral of the story, do the things that happy people do...hang out with friends, engage in activities you enjoy....sounds like you are on the right track!

VH said...

This is an excellent post!

Thimbleanna said...

I had an awesome geometry teacher. He used to wear red ties on test/quiz days -- which was cool 'cause I didn't have him until 6th period, so I had a little time to prep. And on test day, after we were all seated, he'd always make a big production of placing a roll of paper towels on his desk -- the crying towels. Cheer up Buttercup!!! ;-D

patty said...

You drew some awesome conclusions. Apparently Math isn't all about round pi's.