Let’s talk about how beautiful the human form is.

Let’s talk about the curving of the calf muscle, the bulging of bone and muscle at the ankle, the veins running down the foot.

Let’s talk about the starkness of black and white photography. Let’s talk about the lighting of this particular photo: haunting, yet delicate; revealing some, yet withholding more.

As Corinne Fisher and Krystyna Hutchinson note in their book F*cked, bodies come in all shapes and sizes, and society often holds one type artificially aloft, whereas natural beauty comes in a great diversity of forms. Actually, it was Hutchinson who made that observation, and she was specifically referring to genitalia.

All right, then, as long as we’re talking, let’s talk about the beauty and importance of sex.

It’s beautiful. It’s important. Just like you.

And the award for Best Artistry goes to . . . again . . . the Universe!

Congratulations; but you must be weary of winning every year.

Not weary? Just ticking on as usual? I see.

Actually, to be honest, I don’t.

I love to read books like Searching for Stars on an Island in Maine by Alan Lightman, books that illuminate scientific theories and connect them to our daily lives. But there always comes a point in such books where the author admits that we are far from figuring it all out, that we’re nowhere near getting to the bottom of all the mysteries of the universe . . . and whatever lies beyond.

Lightman’s inquiry leads down the paths of science and spirituality—a fascinating journey. However, while he points out many ways in which the two intersect and remain parallel, he also confesses that most of their secrets remain beyond the ken of mere twenty-first-century humans.

Of course, I would not prefer to read a book by an author who claims to know everything!

Sigh. Well, then, instead of yearning for what we cannot have, shall we admire together the artistry of this spiral galaxy?