Curves

There are certain things you realize about yourself while in the process of completing a residency. Mostly, it's stuff like how much sleep you require to think, or how fast you can eat dinner. Sometimes, however, it's simply understanding your own perceptions better.

The advantage of medicine is that I now have a rather thorough understanding of the human body, from a microscopic to macroscopic level. I can appreciate the knee joint with equal interest as a single hair follicle. I am not afraid to touch things, from a crusted sore to a liver.

And part of all this tactile and visual stimulation has led me to realize some things, such as [shameless male piggishness ensues] what I view as beautiful about the female form. What really catches my eye are curves, subtle curves. I like the curvature of the cervical spine, elongated in women. I like the curve of the top of the shoulder, more prominent in women because of decreased trapezius muscle bulk. I like the curve of the abdomen to the hip, made so by the female pelvis. I like the curve of the buttocks joining the lower extremities. Of course, the curves of cleavage. [shameless male piggishness ends]

And I know this sounds very crass, but I mean beauty in the way that the Venus de Milo is beautiful. It's not erotic, but rather transcendent. It's the idyllic wonder of female beauty. It's not Pam Anderson plastic boobs. It's something far more simple.

I used to do a lot of art, and at one time thought that art was my calling in life. I've got sketchbooks and books littered with drawings. And the one thing I learned in all that artwork is that straight lines are not hard to draw. There is such a thing as a perfectly straight line. A perfect curve, however, is difficult. The balance, the angle, the bend. There is something beautiful about a curve that my eye loves.