Today I had the oppertunity to see the Body Worlds exhibit in Charlotte, North Carolina with my AP Biology class. A lot of people in the class didn't go because they believe that it's wrong to have bodies on exhibit like "some sort of freak show". It really bothered me, mostly because these people donated their bodies to science. I'm not sure what they were expecting, but it was definitly one of the neatest experiences of my life. For those who don't know, Body Worlds is the first anatomical exhibition of preserved human bodies, which was made available to the wide public. Dr. Gunther Von Hagens used a relatively new method of preserving bodies called plasitination to preserve the bodies, which show specific systems and parts of the human body. For example, everything but the muscular system may be cut off of one body, while everything but the circulatory system may be cut from another. The bodies are then posed doing something from every day life, such as skateboarding or riding a horse.
It was today when I realized something: the human body is really a amazingly perfect piece of art. Some of the poses that the bodies were in were so artistic and beautiful that it literally took my breath away. One had a girl kneeling, letting doves fly away. Another was a pregnant woman lying sideways, propping her head upon her elbow, her baby clearly visible inside of the womb. The way that everything works together so perfectly, and without our knowledge, is really nothing but a miracle. All of the processes that have to occur at precisely the right time, all of the actions that our body automatically does without us giving it a second thought, all of the perfect symmetry, all of the systems that work so beautifully and simutaniously togther to make one living, breathing human being. I think it's so amazing, and it really reminded me of why I want to be a doctor, why I want to learn more about this amazing human machine. We are all, truely, walking, breathing, living miracles.
