Marcos Caliente – An enchanted chili created by Marvin Niebuhr, who is one of those isolated, rural artists with an eye on the inner spaces
I’m burrowing through the August 2013 issue of Texas Monthly thinking about writers.
Earlier this week I read in the newspaper about John Graves moving on at 92. Graves lived in Glen Rose and was a well known writer about Texas rural life. His Goodbye to a River is considered a classic and his other books, for example: Hard Scrabble: Observations on a Patch of Land and From a Limestone Ledge, leave a legacy of insightful observations about Texas, conservation and nature.
Benjamin Sáenz is another Texas writer and poet from a later generation. He’s almost 59, a professor at UTEP and lives in El Paso. He writes about growing up in West Texas and New Mexico but mostly he writes about growing up inside, the process whereby we learn about ourselves.
Artists (writers and poets and painters and anyone else who goes off alone to explore) put into expression (words, pictures) what we all experience but often cannot quite grasp. It is the artist who while questing through his own awareness often sees those insights that we all know lie at the root of our behavior and dreams.
The cool thing about this process is that it is a skill that stays with artists all their lives. And while Ludwig van Beethoven wrote wonderful music when he was deaf, for most of us staying creative is linked to staying healthy. As providers of health services, we can make a contribution to art too. When we work to create efficient, coordinated health services for all people, especially isolated, rural folks, we add to our library of human understanding by enabling people to have the energy and freedom to look inside and tell us what they find there.
Join us for a real-time discussion about ideas raised by this essay on Wednesday from 12:00 p.m. to 12:45 p.m. See Discussion and SL tabs above for details. Link to the virtual meeting room: http://tinyurl.com/cjfx9ag
References
Balli, C. The Passion of Benjamin Sáenz. Texas Monthly, August 2013. http://www.texasmonthly.com/story/the-messy-visionary-passionate-life-of-benjamin-s%C3%A1enz (This is not the whole article but just a stub to serve as a source).
Holley, J. Goodbye to a writer; John Graves dead at 92. Houston Chronicle, August 2, 2013. http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Goodbye-to-a-writer-John-Graves-dead-at-92-4698127.php
Image Source: http://flimflamlab.blogspot.com/2009/10/marcos-returns.html
Rodger Marion 
August 6, 2013 at 1:19 pm
TRANSCRIPT Aug 6, 2013
[10:05] Rodger Markova: Hiya Tony. Still got your coffee I see.
[10:06] Drdtrain: Yes. The bottomless cup!
[10:09] Rodger Markova: Hi Shoppingbag
[10:10] shoppingbag: Hello
[10:10] Drdtrain: Hello.
[10:10] Rodger Markova: Shoppingbag, you were here before as I recall
[10:11] shoppingbag: I could not find my way into this room, I was in the wrong building
[10:12] Rodger Markova: The blog for this week was a bit abstract in trying to relate health and art
[10:12] shoppingbag: Great, Thank you. If I stay in this room I will be fine
[10:13] Rodger Markova: So far you are doing well
[10:13] Rodger Markova: If you bring up the blog on the media screen above the fireplace you can see this week’s photo
[10:16] Rodger Markova: The photo is of an art project of a friend of mine. He is 70 and very active in creating his artistic expressions and it occurred to me that rural areas have a large attractiveness for artists and that to facilitate their work we need to be especially helpful with providing health care services.
[10:17] Rodger Markova: Tony, you are going to be a musician in retirement, how does wellness and art relate for you
[10:18] Drdtrain: Our local ‘ArtistBoat’ group is made up mostly of those well past their 60’s. I truly believe it is a ‘young at heart’ thing – including musicians, sculptors etc…
[10:18] Rodger Markova: Me too and in the second half of life artists have so much more to say.
[10:18] Drdtrain: Yes. We have plans to tour Texas playing gigs at our favorite venues after retirement
[10:19] Rodger Markova: Super
[10:19] Drdtrain: So far we have two places – but we’re working on it.
[10:20] Rodger Markova: While emphasizing good health care for older artists may seem elitist, we all need what artists do
[10:21] Drdtrain: I agree. There is an appreciation from those who may not know a thing about music or painting. But they know what they like.
[10:22] Rodger Markova: There is a super PBS commercial with Esperanza Spalding where she so clearly explains how the creator of art and the consumer of art are symbiotic. Both need each other and we switch roles, back and forth
[10:23] Drdtrain: I have a rapper friend named ‘Big Smoke’ He’s about 7 feet tall, 300 lbs. We exhange music. I give him feedback on what ‘my world’ thinks of his stuff (which I like) and he tries very hard to understand what I do musically.
[10:23] Rodger Markova: Super
[10:24] Drdtrain: The first time I told him I liked his CD he almost fell over. He could not believe I would want anything to do with ‘that kind’ of music. But music is truly the universal language.
[10:25] Rodger Markova: True
[10:25] Drdtrain: Hey Rodger. I need to go. Shoppingbag – nice meeting you. Later!
[10:26] Rodger Markova: kk Tony. Catch you later
[10:38] Rodger Markova: I don’t think anyone else is coming as the time is almost up. Are there any technical aspects of Second Life I might help you with now?
[10:43] shoppingbag: I am just exploring and checking things out.
[10:51] Rodger Markova: Please, you are free to wander and check out all you wish.