What is Mathematics Anyway?

According to Wikipedia, "Math is the abstract study of topics such as quantity (numbers), structure, space and change." I always felt that math was just a subject I needed to pass in order to graduate and get into university; I honestly thought that math was where you're given problems to solve all day, every day and there is only one answer to the problem, with no leniency. I felt that to do mathematics, was to be given math problems by a teacher then having to solve them. To think mathematically, I felt was to think in an analytical way and always be looking for the one correct answer, unable to see that there could be many possible answers, with the right support, feeling that math wasn't very subjective. 

I asked my dad what he thought math was, what it means to do mathematics, and what it means to think mathematically, because my dad is a very mathematical person, he uses math in his everyday life and uses math and physics very heavily in his career. He told me that he thinks math "can be very basic and complex, people compute after they've been given input, to arrive at a solution to their simple or complex problem. Math can very much be used as a tool." My dad told me that he feels "math makes life easier, in everyday life and in peoples careers/jobs, and it is something that spans over many disciplines." He explained this by comparing math to art, "art effects many people in many ways, and can be created using many techniques. Math too effects many people in many ways and can be created in many ways for many purposes. Math spans over many different disciplines, covering a large spectrum all considered math." To think mathematically my dad said means to think more analytical (so many inputs leaving you to look for results), and less philosophical. 

After talking to my dad and doing a bit of research and participating in the discussion in math class today, I feel that math isn't as easy to define like I had perviously thought. I was very unaware of the things I didn't know about math and how it's not just seen as a subject in school, because we use it everyday, not even realizing (like telling the time). I've learned that math is so much more than just coming up with the correct answer to a problem and that math does allow for creativity. Math is about figuring out how to solve the problem and learning from your mistakes. Like my dad said, math is on a spectrum; it's not just algorithms but math is music, math is art and language and science and humanities, and it's a subject that I think should be taught differently in school, allowing children to have a better understanding of what math is.