Talk to kids when you are faced with a problem.
Most of us never discuss our work challenges with our children. We think their little minds and hearts should be shielded from complexity. But maybe, just maybe, we’re underestimating them—and ourselves.
My older son loves math, and many of my picture books are inspired by our homeschooling adventures in STEM. One day, I was drafting a story about a “Lucky Number,” celebrating each number’s unique traits—mathematical, cultural, and sometimes just plain silly. I had something for every number, except Zero.
So, I told my 14-year-old my plan: Zero would be the number that could supersize anything it stood next to. Ten, two hundred, three thousand—all thanks to Zero. I added a philosophical spin from my ‘Indian’ understanding of Zero, explaining how Zero symbolizes consciousness without attributes, while other numbers represent individuality.
He listened, thought for a moment, then looked me straight in the eye.
“You don’t understand Zero’s power, do you?” he said.
“Nothingness is way more powerful than any big number Zero helps create. Zero doesn’t need another number to feel valuable.
Think about it—Zero flight crashes. Zero kids dying of cancer. Zero people feeling alone. Zero war. Zero crime. Zero is too powerful and it deserves its own glory.
Don’t make it depend on another number.”
Goosebumps!
It hit me: when we explain complicated problems to children, we’re forced to break them down in ways that often reshape our own understanding. Their unconditioned minds, free from the filters of “how things should be,” can uncover insights that might take us years of unlearning to see.
Zero isn’t just a placeholder or an amplifier. It’s a reminder. Sometimes, nothingness—freedom from attachments, from ego, from limits—is the most powerful thing of all.