Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Know your body?


They do say that too much information is a bad thing.
They also say a little knowledge in the wrong hands is a dangerous thing.

I can see the sense in both statements.
The first statement, I have an example for.
It really does qualify as 'too much information'.

I was waiting with a good friend in the foyer area of a concert hall waiting for the concert to begin.
She is one of few in my entourage who doesn't mind trotting off to concerts with me. In fact more often than not, she drags me to these things :-)
Somehow I can't ever manage to persuade the male members  of said entourage to do this.
Even those who share genes with me.
Even those who would spend all their free time in a concert hall if they were allowed to.
Maybe I am missing a huge hint.
:-)

Anyhow, we were having fun, sipping our drinks and chatting away about the upcoming concert as well as doing some people-watching, as you do...

Then suddenly, she said to me, completely out of nowhere, taking me by complete and utter surprise:
'Oh, I just ovulated'.
Just like that.
No warning given that I was about to receive classified information.

And the well-dressed middle-aged gentleman who just happened to pass by me at that precise moment was suddenly wearing my spluttered drink all over his lovely suit...

TMI.
Definitely.

But when I had recovered, and the man had been placated enough that I felt certain I wouldn't be getting a  dry-cleaning bill anytime soon, I did find myself marvelling at this erm...precision.

Gynaecological functions aside, I do appreciate more and more the value of becoming 'body aware'.
Not so much focused on the workings of the body, but just simple things like being aware of one's body quirks, idiosyncrasies, marvels. Or just an appreciation for the different body parts, independently of the whole body as a unit.


I know a lot of people who have had body parts replaced.
A pacemaker or defibrillator, a knee replacement, a kidney transplant...
The one thing in common with these people who have had to have something 'replaced' or 'intervened upon' is that they are especially grateful for the 'borrowed time' they are getting.
Some of them get incredibly 'body aware'.
To the extent that it begins to intrude into their lives somewhat.
Of course some body parts can never be replaced. An amputated limb, an 'ectomy due to cancer...
And that body part forever becomes a phantom of sorts...

I have never really been (self) body aware. At least not in a way that is useful. But everyone else's body is fair game :-)

I have a rather strange affinity towards people's hands. It took me a long time to figure out where this came from.
In a similar manner to people trying to work out where their childhood fears originated from, I searched my brain's memory banks to formulate a hypothesis as to why the first thing I notice about someone is their hands.
I shall play the victim a bit and blame it all on my first ever piano teacher.

She was a nice but eccentric old lady, and she was our neighbour when I was about six and my parents decided it was time to get me to spend my hours after school learning something useful.
So off I was marched to the neighbour who had a piano in her home and who already had a long line of piano students my age.

The first thing she did was to ask to see my hands.
I won't easily forget her exclamation:
"Ah, we have here Rachmaninov hands! Real piano hands!"

Whatever that meant, I was delighted, because although I didn't know what 'piano hands' were, she made it sound like it was a good thing.
And then I spent the next 2 years having my 'piano hands' whacked with a pencil each time I hit a wrong note :-)

Years later, I learned that Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninov had massive hands. He could reach nearly 2 octaves on the piano and his piano concertos were the hardest to play because he composed for his own hands and not the average hands.
I also knew by this time that big hands on a girl are no use, except for playing Rachmaninovesque piano concertos :-)
So boo.

A good friend of mine told me a funny story about his organ-playing debut. He always knew he wanted to play the organ at a young age, but unlike the piano where the pedals are 'optional' for the most part unless you need to play some loud bits, an organist really needs to be able to reach the pedals from a seated position on a standard organ stool. So my poor friend had to wait until he was 11 and his feet could touch the ground from a high stool!
He had to wait for his 'organ legs' to develop before he was allowed near an organ.
Thankfully, whilst waiting, there was always the piano to learn...whether or not he possessed 'piano hands'.


So, ever since I was six, the first thing I want to know about someone new is, do they have piano hands?
There is something beautiful about well-developped fingers that coordinate perfectly with their owner's brain such that they can be used to create something beautiful.
To this end, I find that guitarists, harpists and violinists (at least their left hands anyway) exhibit this characteristic of 'piano hands' as well.

I kid you not. Such is the level of weirdness some of us can attain :-)

Incidentally, I believe that the internet/computer world we live in has indulged me in my weird hand issues somewhat.
I find that 'typist hands' look remarkably similar to 'piano hands' in their agility and beauty of motion.
We all have 'typist hands' these days :-)

Then again, this quirk of mine is not entirely my fault. There are people who gesticulate so much when they speak that you can't help but notice their hands, because their hands are literally in your face.
Italians anyone? :-)
And then you wonder if, if their hands were tied up, would they still be able to speak :-)

Ears and knees... I am even ashamed to go there :-)


The advantage of being 'body aware' is the huge self assurance that comes with knowing which colours suit one, what type of accssories are suitable for which attire, what pattern or style of dress is best suited to one's height and shape, to make up or not, things like that.

To this end, this man has been a godsend :-)

He has some really nice posts on all things 'feminine grooming' and other than professional advice, I think his site is a very good one for any woman interested in making the best of themselves using basic bodily knowledge. Skin colouring, face shape, body type. All this is useful in helping a woman achieve her best 'look'.



Of the two genders, one is particularly known for ignoring symptoms because they are generally less inclined to be 'preoccupied' with their bodies, unlike the other gender who are often labelled as 'hypochondriacs' by the first gender (mentioning no names) precisely because they are so inclined.

:-)

In the SMP, (everything in my posts end up being about the SMP afterall :-), men's health and women's health are equally important.



All the male visual cues, beauty, waist to hip ratio, glossy hair, white teeth, etc are pointers as to her fertility, sure, but they are also pointers as to her health.
A sick man (within reason, of course) can still father a child. But of course his role as provider for said child is perhaps jeopardised.


Whilst I am not ever going to be a 'No fat chicks' advocate as some Manosphere bloggers have taken to doing lately, and neither have I ever felt that an overweight man's value is reduced solely because of his weight, I can see that preventable measures to combat obesity are well within reach for many, and should be taken up.


The first rule of self-care has to be bodily care, no?
Healthy eating, avoiding smoking or excessive alcohol and having some way of expending physical energy are key.
And seeking medical help when something does not feel right.
Hard to do, but oh so worth it.

So somewhere between the woman who knows exactly which second she ovulates each month and the woman who didn't know she was pregnant until her tummy ache ended up with an unexpected and interesting outcome, should be women who know something (a lot!) about how their bodies function and how best to utilise this information to the best of her ability.

And men?
How many times have I heard, 'well he wouldn't be here if his wife/girlfriend/mother/sister hadn't pushed him to go to the doctor...'

Whilst the 'My body is my temple' crowd amuse me with their fastidiousness about maintaining the body beautiful, I think in fact they may have a point.

For our bodies do host our souls, our minds, our characters, our personalities, our spirits.
Our bodies host us.
So we have some duty to look after them the best we can.
Until we are parted from them for good.




Interestingly this is the concert we were waiting to see when I was informed of my friend's monthly event.
Beethoven's Chor Fantasie...
I just realised that of course 'Chor' (german, 'choral') is pronounced the same as 'corps' (french, 'body').
Interesting coincidence...
And now because of the weird Pavlovian conditioning of sorts I was subjected to, I can't hear this piece without thinking 'ovulation' immediately :-)


I would have loved to see her 'piano hands' up close...



And my wish is granted with close-ups of Hélène Grimaud's hands in her rendition of the same piece at the Last Night of the Proms. (I get my regular fix every minute or so in this video :-)
Oh what I wouldn't give to be the page turner here (not that she needs one lol)...or at least get on a front row seat just to get a good view of her hands...


There's something inexplicably alluring about well-developed fingers travelling on a keyboard highway at speeds approaching 100km an hour, no?

I love how it all kicks off around 2:25 with a bang.
And the words...the words! What beautiful words!

One of the lines here (05:29) reminds me of Inner Game :-)
And the very last translated line (06:05) reminds me of a comment made by JV...


Since this post has now officially turned into a self-indulgent and unbridled piano fest, might as well go the full hog and present Evgeny Kissin (great surname!) with Rach 2 (Rachmaninov Piano concerto No. 2).

The hands...the hands...
ST is in piano hand heaven...



And here he is again with Tchaikovsky's Piano concerto No. 1 (First movement):


Talk about 'piano strutting'!
Kissin has got to be the undisputed king of piano strutting :-)
The way he plays the first few bars is absolutely hilarious and almost cartoon-like.


Undisputed king of piano strutting?...This guy begs to differ...


Leif Ove Andsnes...piano god of the North.
Gives Kissin a run for his money in an outstanding Proms performance...
What is it about drum rolls and dramatic overtures? :-)





OK, I'm done now.
:-)


20 comments:

Bellita said...

+JMJ+

I remember my first guitar teacher looking at my hands and being impressed at how long my fingers were. (This was when I was thirteen.) Every time I needed to take a break (because my callouses hadn't grown in yet), he would take one of my hands in his so he could admire my fingers better! But he may be the only man in the world who will ever feel this way about my hands. They may be agile and strong, but they're not pretty! :P

And I'm a little disappointed that you stopped before bringing up ears. ;) Those are the almost always the first things I notice about a person. I've always been charmed by singer Nicky Byrne's ears, which stick out a little at the top, giving them a pointed, elvish look. (Another Irish singer, Bressie, has ears I'd also classify as "elvish," although they're not quite pointed.) I also notice nice ears on women: when I watched Thor the other night, I loved the way Natalie Portman's ears stretch back instead of just standing straight up. :)

How many times have I heard, 'well he wouldn't be here if his wife/girlfriend/mother/sister hadn't pushed him to go to the doctor...'

I know a man who lived in a religious house for men who had made private vows of celibacy but did not quite count as monks. He had been feeling poorly for several months but didn't do anything about it, because everyone in the house whom he mentioned his symptoms to didn't think much of them. Then one morning, when he tried to get up from the toilet, he was too weak even to stand. That was the day he finally decided to go to the hospital, and the doctor couldn't believe how far along he had gone without a check up! (I don't remember what his illness was, but I can ask if you're curious.)

This happened when I was still a teenager. I don't know how my immature self understood enough to say to him: "If there had been a woman in the house, that would not have happened." But it was an insight that must have made an impression on him, as I later heard from another source that when he tells the story, he always adds, "If there had been a woman in the house . . ." (Hahahaha!)

Spacetraveller said...

Bell,

And here I was thinking that my 'hands and ears club' would only have a membership of one!

You are indeed the first ever person I know of who shares my 'ear' thing. A few others I know share the 'hand' thing too.

Just so you know, I am not at all into what would be labelled as 'pretty' hands at all!
I prefer the 'well developed' muscular type fingers one would see on people who use their fingers a lot, like pianists, guitarists, etc...And I like this in both men and women.
And what I have noticed is that a male pianist's hands are not too different from a female pianist's hands...Hélène Grimaud's hands for example could well pass for male hands if one does not see them attached to her.

And yes, I did think of your guitar-playing when I mentioned guitarists in the post and wondered what your hands might look like ;) Long fingers - heaven :-)
Would it freak you out if I said that if I were a man I too would have done what your guitar teacher did and admire your hands? (As opposed to saying I would do the same as a woman - don't know which would spook you more lol).

So for me, 'pretty hands' are out, (just as well I am not a man then) and I am so glad I don't have those myself...
And believe it or not, one of the few people who have a 'hand' thing that I know, liked my hands! But only because my non-pretty hands are still smaller than his :-)
And guess what? His ears are the best ears I have ever seen, other than my father's.
Anyhow, I decided to not go there with the ear thing because I thought it would be way too weird for a public blog such as this. But clearly, I ain't the only one.
Thanks for making me feel 'normal' again Bell!
I really do notice people's ears first, perhaps even before their hands :-)
It's certainly the very first thing I see on babies and small children, but I wonder if that's just because their heads are bigger in proportion to their bodies than adults?
Speaking of celebrity ears, I always thought Prince William's ears are nice.
By the way, have you noticed that most people's ears are not exactly the same?

Your story about the man is so sweet :-) And your teenaged self clearly had a lot of insight!

Whilst this type of 'stoicism' is more typical for men, I must say I do know a few women who also have this 'problem'.

just visiting said...

I can relate to the piano hands, lol. I'll have to come back to comment. I've been swamped.

Spacetraveller said...

Bell,

I checked out the ears you mention...and I see what you mean!
:-)

JV,

Can't wait for your 'piano hands' story.

Yes we really have entered the twilight zone on this one, haven't we?
Apologies for taking y'all there.
:-)

just visiting said...

The videos are beautiful. Confession- the past few days have been brutally busy, but I couldn't help but keep playing those videos in the background. Over and over and over.....lol. The world just seems better somehow. ( I really liked your catch on game and love/strength in the lyrics.)

I have a piano hands story too. When I was little, I was self conscious of my hands. If I straightened them out, they curled up at the ends. One of the ladies at church remarked that they were piano hands. (Well, not really. They lacked the strength, but I saw my hands in a whole new light.) I was smitten with the piano bug, and learned to play. To this day it's something that brings me a lot of joy.

Knowing your body,hmmn. I can't say that I've ever known when I was ovulating. (Unless I do the math) That could be because I had spent most of my adulthood on birth control pills.)

Something that I didn't know about my body was oxytocin, and it's effects. I learned this first hand, but I'm surprised that it isn't discussed more. The concept that women sexually bond to their partners isn't politically correct I guess. Sadder still, I would imagine, would be to lose that ability. I think there are a lot of women who learn these things too late.

@ Bellita

If there had been a woman in the house...I had to chuckle over this. It was an insight that made an impression.Lol. It makes one wonder about the impact that our words have on another. A simple comment about a woman in the house, or piano fingers......

Bellita said...

@ST
Would it freak you out if I said . . .

You didn't even need to finish that sentence! I don't think that anything you say could freak me out. :) But you can keep trying! Hahahaha!

Speaking of celebrity ears, I always thought Prince William's ears are nice.

I've never noticed his ears, so I had to google them up . . . and I'm afraid this is one thing we'll have to disagree on, ST. :P It's not that they're bad ears. I just don't find myself admiring them!

On the other hand, I love Kate's ears! They're a little like Natalie Portman's, stretching back rather than sticking straight up, but are (if I'm not mistaken) a bit larger.

Spacetraveller said...

@ JV,

Another one for the piano hand club!
:-)

I am glad you liked the videos. My friend is German, so she of course could understand the lyrics much better than I.
She is the same one who also goes Tango dancing. She hasn't yet succeeded in getting me to the dance hall, but I reckon it's only a matter of time...In the meantime she keeps me sweet with great concert outings...

"I really liked your catch on game and love/strength in the lyrics."

I have my Manosphere goggles on all the time these days lol. I wonder if there is a cure for that?
:-)

You are so right about words...my piano teacher made me feel good about my rather big hands and to this day I am grateful for that. She 'reframed' my hands for me :-)

"I can't say that I've ever known when I was ovulating. (Unless I do the math)..."

Me neither. Even if I bother to do the math I am sure I would still miss by a few days :-)
Those women who have no idea they are pregnant until they are literally in labour, I'm afraid that might well be me one day. I am incredible 'spacey' when it comes to body issues...
Even though I am in a biology-related field. It's all just theory to me :-)

"Something that I didn't know about my body was oxytocin, and it's effects."

Yes I know what you mean! It's a shame that this is not discussed more...
I am not really a fan of sex education in schools (although I guess I could be persuaded it's a good thing if done properly), but I wonder if they teach about stuff like oxytocin there?

@ Bell,
:-)
Your analysis of ears is earily similar to mine. Hahahaha!
This hand and ear thing can be so funny...
I remember once, a cousin had a baby and when I and some other family members went along to see her and the new baby, whilst everyone else was busy counting the fingers and toes to see if they were all there, I was just asking myself, 'Now, are these gonna be piano hands or not in a few years?'
Hahahaha!
Wouldn't have bothered me if she didn't have the right number of digits. To me, what was more important was, 'are they piano hands?'
I guess her parents had a different take on this issue though lol.

just visiting said...

I have to admit that I'm not crazy about sex ed in schools. It's gone a long way since we were kids. But even women's magazines don't mention it. I suspect that it doesn't support a sex positive readership. Still, useful information to know. It makes a good case for chasteness.

As for unknown pregnancy...
My second cousins daughter had this happen. I don't know all of the details, but she went through an entire pregnancy without knowing. She wasn't an obese girl, but about 25-30 lbs overweight. The way she carried made it tough to tell. She had an implanted birth control (Don't know which one.) And even had surgery at one point during the pregnancy. (Luckily her child has not suffered any long term affects)

She went into labor and since her mother was at work, she called her grandparents. She thought that she was having kidney problems. (related to her surgery) She ended up having a baby. Quite a mind blowing event for a 17 year old girl and her family. Everyone was quite devastated for not knowing.

I'm not sure if her monthly cylcles were too sporadic to tell, or if implant birth control stops them. I thought it too tactless a question to ask at the time.

Spacetraveller said...

Whoa, JV, what a story!
The poor girl...

What a decisively big fail on the part of her contraceptive...

I don't know anyone personally who has been through this, but I have seen enough examples both in real life and on TV to wonder if this is actually more common than we realise?
Especially with hormonal contraception which does interfere with monthly cycles, so it is hard to know when one is genuinely late or just 'irregular'.
(Um, I just realised that the men are staying well clear of this post - all this talk of ovulation/monthly cycles has killed their interest :-)
Sorry boys. Didn't meant to turn you off!
JV and I will emerge from the female locker room any minute now...)

:-)

I agree with you that a logical reaction to the kind of sex ed that is taught in schools today should be chasteness.
But strangely enough the opposite happens...

Anonymous said...

Hi, ST, PVW here.

That is a funny ovulation story. As for sex ed in high school, I can think of something I learned which helped me understand the story you are talking about: mittelschmerz. It might have been sex ed or high school biology, I can't remember which.

I was able to tell, like she could, because I noticed it, along with other things...I don't want to get into the realm of TMI, though!

Spacetraveller said...

@ PVW,

"...I don't want to get into the realm of TMI, though!"

Hahaha, that horse bolted ages ago...too late to close the barn door now. TMI away! :-)

"As for sex ed in high school, I can think of something I learned which helped me understand the story you are talking about: mittelschmerz..."

Exactly!
Mittelschmerz!
That's what my friend says she goes by. She feels the pain of her ovulations, literally like a 'pop'. And what's more, she can tell from which ovary she just ovulated - right or left. I was fascinated by all this because I on the other hand, if I get any sort of pain, it's constipation until proven otherwise :-)

I do wish I were more in tune with my own body.
How cool that you too can time your ovulation via mittelschmerz.
I have other friends who are simply aware when they are in the 'luteal' or post-ovulation phase of their cycles when they start getting all the unpleasant side effects - the relative weight gain, the acne (if applicable), the moods, the mammary tenderness, etc. I am slightly sensitive to those too, but typically for me, days later than I should.

Hm, I guess men in general must be very body aware, at least from the age of puberty, for resons that might be obvious. But I wonder if there are male equivalents of me, who really are rather insensitive to their bodies, except for weird fascinations with ears and hands?

Anonymous said...

ST:

I have other friends who are simply aware when they are in the 'luteal' or post-ovulation phase of their cycles when they start getting all the unpleasant side effects - the relative weight gain, the acne (if applicable), the moods, the mammary tenderness, etc. I am slightly sensitive to those too, but typically for me, days later than I should.

PVW:

Dipping into "TMI zone," you can add to that list, "the undies don't lie!"

ST:

Hm, I guess men in general must be very body aware, at least from the age of puberty, for resons that might be obvious. But I wonder if there are male equivalents of me, who really are rather insensitive to their bodies, except for weird fascinations with ears and hands?

PVW:

But you might be surprised; just thinking about some of the men I know, there is less of an awareness there, compared to the women I know.

Or they are body aware, but only in certain ways? Isn't there some indication, for example, that certain diseases in men tend to be asymptomatic compared to women's more obvious symptoms?

It just seems women are more used to thinking in terms of annual exams in ways men tend not to?

As you mentioned, I can think of men who just don't want to go to the doctor; they figure they don't want to know, and if they do know, it won't be good!

The unfortunate part is that some problems only exacerbate the more they remain undiagnosed and untreated.

Spacetraveller said...

@ PVW,

"Or they are body aware, but only in certain ways? Isn't there some indication, for example, that certain diseases in men tend to be asymptomatic compared to women's more obvious symptoms?"

Several STDs fall into this category.

"As you mentioned, I can think of men who just don't want to go to the doctor; they figure they don't want to know, and if they do know, it won't be good!"

What do you think is the issue here? Is it fear, or just laziness or perhaps a certain 'arrogance' ... what is it?

I am curious as to why men have such an aversion to doctors/nurses. You may know why I ask this...let's call it 'reasearch'.
This subject fascinates me...

Anonymous said...

Spacetraveler:

I am curious as to why men have such an aversion to doctors/nurses. You may know why I ask this...let's call it 'reasearch'.

PVW replies:

As I think of the men I know who fit into this category, it seems to me that women are (in general) more willing to recognize their biological and physical vulnerabilities?

As we grow up, we are made aware of them and thus we are more willing to confront them, ie., in going to the doctor and making sure everything is okay?

But men don't have those as much, it seems to me, and so they don't develop the mindset that they should think of their health in terms of their own vulnerabilities?

It is scary for them to suddently have to think of it? So they avoid it and only go when pushed to, ie., they have symptoms they can't ignore, or the women in their life drag them along?

Spacetraveller said...

@ PVW,

Yes, I see what you mean. Women understand their physical vulnerability quite quickly in life. Men don't encounter that problem until much later in life.
Makes sense!
Thanks for the insight :-)

amy said...

Late to the party! Start with the hands, as a possessor of dumpy childlike hands, I have long been an admirer of elegant and dexterous fingers (like the hand of my best friend growing up). My ears were taken up at a family reunion in my childhood and it was discovered that I and my first cousin were the last possessor of the R***** family ears... at least my right ear. My left ear was different. The ears are different sizes, stuck out away from the face (constantly in threat by sleepy beauticians on hair cut day), and make a funny little squiggle like the ears of my deceased father. I don't think that I've passed it on yet. I've fastidiously ignored ears ever since, although occasionally someone after class, or my husband will make the loud discovery, "Hey your ears don't match!" So I am aware that other people note ears even if I do not.

Spacetraveller said...

Amy,

"The ears are different sizes, stuck out away from the face (constantly in threat by sleepy beauticians on hair cut day),"

Hahahaha!
I know what you mean. Mine don't stick out and still these hairdressers/beauticians manage to hit them :-)

Elegant and dextrous fingers...I am constantly on the hunt for these...on the train, at work, even at Mass I 'check out' people's hands before I shake them :-)
(Gosh, I hope I don't across as creepy when I do this...it's totally subconscious and I hope not too obvious)

Very few people have exactly matching ears...the majority of us are ear unmatched...

amy said...

As for knowing my body, I used to be clueless and stoic, but now know it pretty well. Natural family planning (fertility awareness method) and natural childbirth both demand attention and revealed my body up to me in its rhythms and function. (I had had no clue how cool it is to be a girl!)

Being a mother has forced me to slow down and take inventory of my health and get the rest and water that I to heal. I now sustain fewer injuries, fewer secondary infections, and have a better idea of when to seek medical attention. Knowing my body has also helped me recover from childhood eczema by learning my triggers and avoiding them.

I also know my children's bodies, for the time being. I have great faith in their strength and ability to heal. Neither has had any need of antibiotics. I know what is normal under various circumstances, how high the fever will go, and exactly how many days I'll watch that pesky cough before I look for a second opinion. This is confusing to me because I won't know them this well forever... or will I?

amy said...

One little bone to pick Spacetraveler, our bodies don't host us, our bodies *are* us. I don't take my body on a walk or feed my body. I walk. I eat. Although the human soul is 'separable' as we say in philosophic terms and 'immortal' as we commonly say, the soul is the kind of thing that belongs to the flesh- the soul forms the flesh (which is why the body decays after death, when the soul leaves it).

Spacetraveller said...

@ Amy,

I am sure all mothers know their children's bodies for life, no matter how they change :-) I guess because half of it comes from them anyway ;)

I guess motherhood is the ultimate test of self-knowledge in many ways...
Although most women DO get to know their bodies by the time they reach this milestone in their lives, I am pretty sure 100% of women become extremely self-aware after motherhood. It would be freaky otherwise...

Re the body/soul, I stand corrected. I often see the body as separate from the 'self' whatever that is, precisely because the body dies, but you are right, while we are on Earth anyway, the body IS the self. Good point.
Those people who go on about 'my body is my temple' have a point, for to abuse the body is to abuse the self, no?