“… it’s important to explore other points of view. Doing this provides you with options; it broadens you. You discover that just because you made lemonade one way all your life doesn’t mean you have to go on making it that way forever.” — Miriam Polster, IN SWEET COMPANY: CONVERSATIONS WITH EXTRAORDINARY WOMEN ABOUT LIVING A SPIRITUAL LIFE

I am not a math person. All you have to do is look at my checkbook to know numbers are not my strong suit. But I am the daughter of a mechanical engineer, a man who revered numbers. Math was the language my Dad spoke; it was the logic behind his language. Numbers were practical, evidenced-based, and of the earth. I, on the other hand, am not.

Dad and I were like two sides of the same brain — he the linear, logical left brain; I the creative, intuitive right brain. Our different world views were the source of many misunderstandings during my Wonder Bread years. In time, we found a common ground and came to appreciate each other in ways I always longed for. Still, I carry an aversion for all things mathematical. I could never quite “get” their appeal.

Then the Universe sent me an email, one of those things people forward from friend to friend to friend, that made me fall in love with numbers. Some arithmetical soul figured out the following numerical sequences and i was head over heels. Take a look at this:
 
   1 x 8 + 1 = 9
   12 x 8 + 2 = 98
   123 x 8 + 3 = 987
   1234 x 8 + 4 = 9876
   12345 x 8 + 5 = 98765
   123456 x 8 + 6 = 987654
   1234567 x 8 + 7 = 9876543
   12345678 x 8 + 8 = 98765432
   123456789 x 8 + 9 = 987654321

   1 x 9 + 2 = 11
   12 x 9 + 3 = 111
   123 x 9 + 4 = 1111
   1234 x 9 + 5 = 11111
   12345 x 9 + 6 = 111111
   123456 x 9 + 7 = 1111111
   1234567 x 9 + 8 = 11111111
   12345678 x 9 + 9 = 111111111
   123456789 x 9 +10= 1111111111

   9 x 9 + 7 = 88
   98 x 9 + 6 = 888
   987 x 9 + 5 = 8888
   9876 x 9 + 4 = 88888
   98765 x 9 + 3 = 888888
   987654 x 9 + 2 = 8888888
   9876543 x 9 + 1 = 88888888
   98765432 x 9 + 0 = 888888888

   1 x 1 = 1
   11 x 11 = 121
   111 x 111 = 12321
   1111 x 1111 = 1234321
   11111 x 11111 = 123454321
   111111 x 111111 = 12345654321
   1111111 x 1111111 = 1234567654321
   11111111 x 11111111 = 123456787654321
   111111111 x 111111111=123456789 87654321

Now, for the piesta resistance!

If A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z is represented as
   1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 … 
and you look to mathematics to determine the secrets of a happy life,
you find that H-A-R-D-W-O-R-K (8+1+18+4+23+ 15+18+11) gets you 98% there.
that K-N-O-W-L-E-D-G-E (11+1 4+15+23+ 12+5+4+7+ 5) gets you 96% there;
and that A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E (1+20+20+9+20+ 21+4+5) gets you 100% there.
But, it’s  L-O-V-E-O-F-G-O-D (12+15+22+5+15+6+7+15+4 = 101%) that puts you over the top.

While this is cool and fun, what touched my heart is that I realized there is beauty even in math, that numbers also speak of the Implicate Order in the universe. This is something a right-brained girl like me understands and appreciates!

Your thoughts?