In a prior post, you learned about my science-nerd side. (Click here if you missed it.) But if you really know me, then you know I have an artsy side, too. Music. Photography. Paint. Stage. Writing! I’m really not picky. While most of these are not my gifts or skills, I certainly appreciate them in others. It is so good for my mind to appreciate the creativity of others, of my own (& of God, if you’ll let me go there).

The blend of science and art is why I love being in nature. And, it’s why I love being a doctor. It is called the “Art of Medicine” for a reason.

While sometimes it’s a scientific breakthrough that “gives me the feels” (to use Jason’s phrase), more often it’s art that stirs my heart or calms my mind.

Jason started chemotherapy for his brain tumor this week. And, it’s been a roller-coaster week. Mostly the not-fun, bumpy, downhill, nauseating kind of coasters. Especially the nauseating kind! The he-asked-for-a-Zofran-refill-on-Day-#3 kind.

So, what the heck does the ugliness of cancer treatment have to do with the beauty of art?

The thing I keep hearing through our cancer journey is how different everyone else’s journey is. Some people have all of the risk factors and get cancer, and others don’t. Some people have unintended consequences from radiation, and others don’t. Some people tolerate chemotherapy well, and others don’t. Some people with brain tumors like Jason’s live for years, and others don’t. Everyone’s cancer journey is original, unique, and even unpredictable.

Even the genetics and location of Jason’s tumor are original, unique, and unpredictable.

I’m really starting to hate originality, unpredictability, and uniqueness!

Yet,

the thing I LOVE about art is that it is the ability of someone to create something original, unique, and even unpredictable.

It’s beautiful.

It’s the painting in the hospital lobby that makes me stand still for just a moment. It’s the voice on the radio I involuntarily turn up a little louder. It’s the unscripted movie scene that makes me belly laugh. Heck, sometimes it’s even the awesome hair of some beautiful stranger on the street that catches my eye. More traditionally, it’s a performance, or just a stupid commercial!, that gets me. The photo above is of my daughter in a group of other Nebraska 4th and 5th graders singing in the All-State Children’s Choir. And, yes, the music was so good I cried at that, too.

Perhaps we all have some creative, unpredictable ability. Yes, even you. There is something unique and beautiful to add to our community and to our world.

And, maybe, it’s a journey through cancer.

“Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.”

Isaiah 64:8