_{ID 138266617 © Oksanabratanova | Dreamstime.com}

I’m guessing the first reason is rather obvious. If baseball is the All-American past time, I would argue Pie is the All-American dessert. And while one might not necessarily need a reason to eat pie, creating reasons also seems to be an American thing so, celebrate Pi Day as a logical excuse to eat pie. Reason number 1. 

Reason number 2 may not be as obvious. In fact, I’m betting that some of you had horrible math teachers and have no idea how intrinsically beautiful Pi is. And even more tragic is the thought that some of you might not have been taught the basic relevance of such an amazing relationship. Such egregious neglect of a wondrous overlay between math and the real world must be remedied and maybe you’ll have the attention span to continue if you grab a piece of pie while you finish reading. 

Go grab a slice and come back!

(insert instrumental music here…)

Okay. Let’s get to it. 

The world is full of things that are not certain or constant. Right?! 

I remember a specific scene from the movie “Meet Joe Black” from long ago (1998 to be exact). Mr. Black says, “…death and taxes?…Death and Taxes?!…what an odd paring…” He is then called out in front of a conference room full of people for never having heard the popular saying, “Nothing is certain in this world except death and taxes.” Spoiler alert, Mr. Black is Death in human form so you can understand his interest in such a saying. But I digress.

I bring this up to demonstrate there is actually a third, less unseemly thing that is also certain.

Any guesses? 

Anyone? Bueller?

Hint: What’s today? 

Yes, it’s Friday but what is the date and the title of this post?

There it is! Good guess! Yes, Pi is certain! (I wish I could also tell you pie is certain but alas, I cannot).

But Pi is certain!

To understand the true marvel of this, it helps to know what Pi is. Find something near you that is a round. A clock, the rim of a mug, a table. If the first thing you see is the steering wheel, put your phone down and finish reading when you get to your destination. Seriously.

Anyway, there is an aspect of round things, or circles as we like to call them, that is amazing and certain. If you measure the distance around the circle and divide that by the distance across the circle, through the middle (yes, you over achievers, the “around” is the circumference and the “through” bit is the diameter. Gold star!), the answer you get when you divide the around bit by the through bit will always be the same number…ALWAYS!! The size of the circle is irrelevant. The relationship between these two measurements is certain. And this certainty is described by the Greek letter Pi. (If you want to geek out a bit more, go here.)

We all look for certainty. It feels safe when things stay the same and consistent. I would love to be certain that my next scan will be clear. But hope is not certainty and finding this beautiful thing is truly rare. And as is the case in the above mentioned film, often when we do find certainty, as in death and taxes, the beauty is lacking. 

But let’s get back to pie and pi. Reason number two to celebrate Pi day? Circles! Rejoice in the discovery that circles represent a particular relationship that is always constant in a world short of consistency!

I’m sure we could come up with some creative metaphor about life and circles, but I’ll leave such an exercise for you to ponder as you dive into slice number 2 (no counting today because it’s like an actual holiday). And feel free to share your ponderings but more importantly, don’t let this opportunity to celebrate Pi pass you by!