The Palette Muse

menu icon
go to homepage
  • DIY
    • Home Improvement
    • Home Maintenance
    • DIY with Paint
    • DIY Decor
    • Cabinets
    • Furniture
    • Camper
    • Makeovers
    • Tips
    • Tools
    • $100 Room Challenge
  • Crafts
    • Painting Crafts
    • Paper Crafts
    • Fabric and Yarn
    • Wreaths and Banners
    • Handmade Gifts
    • Christmas
    • Art
  • Design
    • Color
    • House Flipping
    • Home Staging
    • Bathroom
    • Bedroom
    • Home Office
    • Kitchen Design
    • Home Decorating
    • Outdoor Decor
  • Organizing
    • Airbnb
    • Cleaning
    • Planners and Worksheets
    • Printables
    • Saving Money
  • Family
    • Recipes
    • Camping
    • Creativity
    • Faith
    • Holidays
    • Musings
  • Printables
    • Get the Newsletter
  • About Me
    • Work With Me
      • Affiliate Disclosure
      • Disclosures & Disclaimers
      • Privacy Policy

subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • DIY
    • Home Improvement
    • Home Maintenance
    • DIY with Paint
    • DIY Decor
    • Cabinets
    • Furniture
    • Camper
    • Makeovers
    • Tips
    • Tools
    • $100 Room Challenge
  • Crafts
    • Painting Crafts
    • Paper Crafts
    • Fabric and Yarn
    • Wreaths and Banners
    • Handmade Gifts
    • Christmas
    • Art
  • Design
    • Color
    • House Flipping
    • Home Staging
    • Bathroom
    • Bedroom
    • Home Office
    • Kitchen Design
    • Home Decorating
    • Outdoor Decor
  • Organizing
    • Airbnb
    • Cleaning
    • Planners and Worksheets
    • Printables
    • Saving Money
  • Family
    • Recipes
    • Camping
    • Creativity
    • Faith
    • Holidays
    • Musings
  • Printables
    • Get the Newsletter
  • About Me
    • Work With Me
      • Affiliate Disclosure
      • Disclosures & Disclaimers
      • Privacy Policy

×

Why I Hate (and Love) Math

Modified: Mar 26, 2024 · This post may contain affiliate links · 1 Comment

  • Share
  • Email
  • Print

I knew from an early age (when I realized I could blend my crayons together on the page to create colors that weren't in the box) that I wanted to be an artist.  This knowledge brought me great relief as, with each passing year of school, I grew to hate math more and more. 

I enjoyed most other subjects, but as far as I was concerned, math was the antithesis of all things good, creative, and artistic.  Fortunately for me, I didn't need to care about math.  I just needed to pass.

colored pencils in a heart shape

I have many memories of myself crying as my dad, an engineer, tried to help me understand my homework.  When understanding it proved impossible, we settled for memorizing the parts I needed to know to pass the tests. 

I remember begging him to tell my WHY.  I wanted to know why the equations had to be that way.  Who decided that the quadratic equation should be so complicated?  And most of all, why do I need to know this if I'm never going to use it in my life? 

I think he tried convincing me that it's impossible to know at a young age what you want to be when you grow up, so you need to know math in case someday you want to use it. 

This was a ridiculous argument to me.  If that was the case, then I could just decide right there and then that I would NEVER do anything that required math.  Case closed.

math equations

And to this day, I stand firm.  I have never, and will never pursue a career that involves higher level math.  I think I can say with certainty that, at almost 40, I will never need to know calculus to get through the rest of my life successfully.

However, I've just realized a great truth.  In learning to solve those equations, I was learning how to solve problems.  Not the math problems, because I never truly "learned" those.  I was learning how to keep going when something is hard.  How to ask for help when you need it.  And how to understand when you've learned just enough to get the job done and move on to the next problem. 

Now THAT is a skill that you'll use all your life.

Last week I was working on this blog and ran into an unsolvable HTML problem.  I know nothing about HTML coding, and was about to give up when I tried a Google search to see if anyone else had ever solved this problem.  Of course, many people had and one of them even had a simple way of explaining it to me. 

Do I understand HTML coding now?  No.  But now I know where to go to get the answer to the next unsolvable problem.  Just like I did so many years ago with my dad, I'll ask for help.  I may not understand the "why" of the answer, but I'm getting pretty good at finding the right thing to plug into the equation, to get to the answer.

My daughter, working on homework

I've always been haunted by the thought of what I'll say when (or if) my kids ask me, through their tears, why they have to learn this?  Now I can tell them honestly that they are learning skills for life, even if their life does not include higher math.  Hopefully, it won't take them till their late 30's to understand what I mean.

Update: My daughter (pictured above) is now in her freshman year at college, studying to be an engineer. Apparently she gets her math genes from her dad, thankfully.

More Family

  • Enough is enough. Leave the hustle behind for good.
    Enough is Enough: Leave the Hustle Behind for Good
  • Helping Parents Downsize Part 2
    Helping Parents Downsize their Home, Part 2: The Process
  • How to Help Parents Downsize their Home
    How to Help Parents Downsize their Home
  • How to be more creative with the ABC's of creativity
    How to be More Creative with The Upside-Down ABC's of Creativity

Comments

  1. Juliet says

    March 07, 2013 at 10:07 pm

    Wow, awesome post. Nicely written! I myself am amazed by art, but am not very good at it. I consider writing my form of art. 🙂
    Juliet
    http://www.apurplesky.blogspot.com

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Welcome!

I'm Meredith, the designer, crafter, and DIY-er behind The Palette Muse. I love all things colorful and creative, and I love sharing them with you. Thanks for visiting today!

More about me

Popular

  • The Best Way to Paint Kitchen Cabinets (No Sanding!)
  • What I Wish I'd Known about Double Barn Doors
  • How to Paint Laminate Cabinets
    How to Paint Laminate Cabinets without Sanding
  • How to Make Your Own Simple Chair Covers

Seasonal

  • Turquoise and terracotta complement each other in this Southwestern inspired turquoise color palette.
    Turquoise Color Palette
  • New Mexican Hot Chocolate Recipe
    New Mexican Hot Chocolate Recipe
  • Our Latest Flip House Before and After
    Our Latest Flip House Project - Before and After
  • warm amethyst color palette with shades of purple and very faint orange.
    Warm Amethyst Color Palette

Footer

↑ back to top

About

  • Privacy Policy

Newsletter

  • Sign Up! for emails and updates

Contact

  • Work With Me

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Copyright © 2025 The Palette Muse

  • Pinterest
  • Facebook
  • Email