Look at the leaves and how they dance for you.

The trees how they bend and bow to you.

Lock eyes with the smiling child sitting in the shopping cart rolling past you.

Welcome the warmth of compassion in your heart. 

Let it remind you of humans’ inherent kindness and instinct to love, though sometimes hidden.

Get lost in admiration at the furrows woven in the face of the elderly woman sitting in the seat next to you.

Allow your imagination to fill with stories of what she must have overcome.

Though only one of five senses, sight possesses a divinity obtainable by no other sense.

How beautiful it is to serve another human being along this sacred interface.

Where mankind indulges in creation.

Where mankind has the privilege to partake in this Divine Dance.

My ambition is no longer to prolong life, but rather to enhance it.

Now as I look through the microscope at what ailment has impaired your vision, I too only want one thing.

That is to restore your ability to partake in this Divine Dance alongside me.

Author Description: This piece, “Divine Dance”, shows a glimpse into why I have chosen ophthalmology as the medical speciality through which I hope to serve the world. It is often through the sense of vision that one falls into bliss at the beauty of creation. Vision comprises our memories. The sight of one we love has the power to keep us pushing through any trial of life. Serving another individual along this interface, to me, is deeper than the restoration of sight. It is the revitalization of one’s spiritual, mental, and emotional well-being.

Download a copy of Divine Dance – Michael Moussa, MD

Bio: Michael Moussa is a first generation MD, born and raised in metro Detroit, and the son of two Syrian immigrants. He recently graduated from Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine in the class of 2022 and started ophthalmology residency at St. Louis University. Writing is his creative expression, a habit which he has come to cherish through years of reflective journaling.