Christine Whitmarsh

The Power of the Curve Christine Whitmarsh

Facing life changing surgery in an attempt to correct 116 degrees of scoliosis curves, Christine Whitmarsh was given three distinct and distinctly terrifying odds - paralysis, death, or coming out of the surgery alive and functional, free to resume her nineteen year old life. Up until that moment, Christine's life had been fairly normal as a slightly neurotic, hyper achieving, rail thin, towheaded New England teenager with ambitions to become "the next Barbara Walters." Her life after the surgery would eventually become normal too, albeit a new sort of normal, as an entrepreneur, professional creative, and, unexpectedly, in the fourth decade of her life, a circus artist. But this story isn't about navigating normal. It's about finding your way around all the "abnormal" life curves: the confusing ones, painful ones, shocking ones, and growth ones. It's about finding and embracing the strength, surprises, lessons, and ultimately, the power in all of life's curves.