July 2021
THIS ISN’T
OUR FIRST RODEO
You may have met Expedition Royalty Co. for the first time when we sponsored the Big Spring Rodeo or the Howard County Fair. Our commitment to Howard County runs deep. We have made deals for thousands of acres here, and our people have decades of experience serving Permian Basin mineral rights owners. We’re proud to be part of the community, sponsoring and participating in big events year-round. But we’re even prouder to be your mineral advisor in the Permian Basin every day. Get in touch today for a free evaluation of your property and its mineral rights.
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O R CO M E V I S I T U S AT O U R D OW N TOW N O F F I C E 220 S MAIN
05 Rising out of the valley A rocky beginning has led to a path John Flores never saw himself stepping into, but through the prayers of his grandmother, the support of his family, and a graceful God, he is able to serve others using the skills that he has been refining over the years.
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Let’s head out to the movies
Big Spring Herald Sports Editor Dustin Pope talks about some of his favorite sports-related motion pictures of all time. Baseball, Football, Basketball, hockey, boxing, and winter Olympic Bobsledding all make appearances in Dustin’s list of the greatest sports movies of all time.
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Men, it’s time to take control of your health
Winston McQueen, MD with Family Practice at Shannon Clinic, shares the importance of men focusing on their helath, taking routine screenings and doctors visits and ensuring a healthier lifestyle.
12 Changes I have seen in my lifetime
Joel Miller, former Head Chaplain, recalls some of the memories and changes he’s seen growing up in his lifetime. As he recalls his childhood and theway things used to be, he takes Living Magazine readers with him, along for the journey.
On the cover: Local photographer Matt Warren once again shares with our readers the beauty that sits in the middle of our community. The photo shows a storm rolling into Big Spring, no filter, no adjustments - pure beauty in the middle of Big Spring.
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Art and Healing
Local artist Kay smith shares the healing that can take place when an artist puts the paint to paper, creates brush strokes, and begins to create a masterpiece. she also discusses the different ways art has been used in many healing processes, from mental to physical health.
Published by the Big Spring Herald. Copyright 2021. All rights reserved. Living Magazine is published monthly and distributed to businesses and residents of Howard County. Amanda Duforat is the editor of the Living Magazine. Editorial correspondence should be sent to Living, P.O.Box 1431, Big Spring, Texas, 79721. For advertising rates and other information, please call 432-263-7331.
July House Call
Men, it’s time to take control of your health If you’re like a lot of men, you may pay less attention to your own health than to other important matters, like your job, home and family. But you deserve good health—and a good, long life. And isn’t it time you did something about that? To start to prioritize your health, you need a primary care provider (PCP), such as a family physician or an internist, which you trust. You might ask your friends for recommendations. Whether you feel more comfortable with a male or a female provider is totally up to you. Your PCP can give you regular checkups and help make sure you get the care you need, which may include: Health screenings. You may feel fine, and you may be healthy. Or you could have a silent health problem, like high blood pressure, and not even know it.
Your PCP can use screening tests to detect some diseases before they cause symptoms, when they’re often easier to control or treat. For example, you may need to be screened for high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes or colon cancer. Vaccines. Are you due for a tetanus booster? A shingles shot? Do you get a flu vaccine every year? Getting recommended vaccinations can help you avoid painful and serious diseases. Advice for a healthy life. Your PCP can help with goals like eating right, exercising regularly, losing weight and quitting tobacco. Open up Your provider is there to help—not judge. But he or she can’t do that unless you talk about sensitive topics that may be keeping you from a healthier life, such as:
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Your mental health. Do you feel sad, hopeless or disinterested in activities you once enjoyed? These can be signs of depression, which is a serious illness. Treatment helps most people with depression enjoy life again. Your drinking or smoking habits. You need to come clean if you drink alcohol or smoke tobacco or other substances. Your PCP can discuss the risks with you. Your energy level or sex drive. If you’re tired a lot or your desire for sex has plummeted, there may be a reason, such as a low testosterone level, that can be treated. For more information on these topics, or any other health concerns you may have, please call Shannon Clinic South 1 at 325-245-4201. If you do not currently have a PCP, please call our Doctor Matchmaker at 325-481-2343.
ByAMANDA DUFORAT For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, Jeremiah 29:11-13. A well known scripture that many have quoted and many have built their foundation of life upon. One local small business owner, John Flores Jr., is one of those who understands from a first hand experience, what placing your life in God’s hands can do. There are rags to riches stories that almost everyone has heard, but far too often, we miss out on sharing the stories of those who are dug out of the pits and continue to strive to reach the mountaintop. God’s saving grace may not always gain you accolades, fame and fortune, but the peace and abundant blessings that are carefully thread through ones life shouldn’t go ignored. “The last time I smoked crack I stayed up for three straight days. When I woke up I saw her praying; I said I’m done,” John Flores Jr. said. “She said okay Mijo. She is the one who never put me down, but simply said I will pray for you Mijo; she prayed for God to bless
me and that I would stay off drugs.” A grandma’s prayer does not go unheard and the blessings that flow from those prayers are not only life changing, but can be seen throughout her grandchildren’s lives. Flores’s grandmothers prayers were not only answered, but were extended through his own prayers. As he lifted his voice to God and submitted his own prayers, the first scripture that God revealed to him was Jeremiah 29: 11-13. When it comes to submitting to the will of God direction flows and the next step of that submission is obedience; another choice that Flores would have to make. “I got up, borrowed my grandma’s car. As I was leaving I heard an inner voice tell me to head towards Midland. I was on the west side near the new sheriff’s department and thought to myself there is nothing out Funeral Home & Chapel here but prisons,” he said. Funeral, Memorial & “I pulled off to Cremation Services the side near an apartment Burial In Any Cemetery complex and when I got to Bill & Charlsa Myers, Owners the stop sign I
Myers & Smith
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started bawling asking God what did He want me to do.” As Flores gathered his composure, wiped his tears and raised his head, he looked across the street and saw a man cutting a door. Once again, he could feel the spirit leading him and once again he chose to be obedient. “I crossed the street, walked up to him and told him ‘God told me to come over here.’ He looked at me and asked me what I was talking about. I gave him a quick run down of my history and told him that I just rededicated my life to Christ and heard God tell me to come talk to him,” Flores said. As always, the leading of the Holy Spirit draws people to a moment that can only be described as a God Moment, and according to Flores, this moment was nothing short of that. “He started crying … and now I had no idea why he was crying. That’s when he told me, he had just prayed that God would bring someone to him. We hugged … cars were passing and I’m sure people thought we were crazy because we were out there crying and hugging,” he said. The man that Flores had approached happened to be the owner of more than 30 units that were in need of repair. As the two gentlemen spoke and ironed out the details, another scripture came to Flores mind; “Humble yourself before the Lord and He will lift you up.” “At first I had no idea what that second scripture meant, but as we talked about pay, I realized what it was. Everytime I had applied for a job or filled out an application I had wanted to get top dollar, but this time because it was a God thing, I told him I wanted him to pay me minimum wage,” he said. “When I told him that, his jaw dropped and he couldn’t believe that I was willing to do all this for minimum wage.” As Flores continued to be obedient, God continued to move through the situation. For the next few weeks and months he put forth his best effort. As with many things in life, there is a season for everything.
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About the time a raise was presented to Flores, he also heard the Lord speak that it was time for this part of his journey to be over and the next step was on the horizon. Once again stepping out in faith, after two months, he moved on to begin his own business. While he was working and bringing in a steady income, one of the priorities that he had determined was to provide a tithe to his grandma. “I didn’t have a church home at this time, but I knew I needed to tithe. I was giving my grandmother the tithe at this time so she could turn it in,” he said. “When I received my last payment from that first job I received $261. I took the $200 of tithe to my grandma and then I took the remaining $61 to place an ad for my business.” The faithfulness of God and the blessings that follow obedience continued to show in Flores’ life. The ad for his business was placed on a Friday – not expected to run until Monday - and on Monday his phone rang. “There was a lady on the other end of the line that asked for me and then asked what the J-N-J stood for. I told her, you know Jesus was a carpenter; the first J is Jesus and the second J is me,” he said. “She requested a quote, but I asked her how she got my number, and that’s when she told me it was in the newspaper.” He continued, “I called the lady that I had placed the ad with and she told me that something stuck out that night. While she normally would have waited to place the ad the following week, there was something that made her put it in that evening... that was a God thing and I knew God had started something in my life.” With that one phone call, the increase began. From making $7 an hour, to $15 an hour to $800 in one day is the fruit of the obedience that Flores saw. “I used to walk all over town with a drill, a ladder, and just the basics for carpentry … people would make their comments and I remember feeling so ashamed, but my inner spirit was telling me ‘It’s okay
because God has a plan for you says the Lord.’” he said. As many understand, while there are mountaintops to stand upon, there are also valleys that must be walked as well. However, there are times that those valleys also lead to the next blessing in our lives. Not long after the transition of business, his grandma was diagnosed with cancer. “Within 30 days of my grandma being diagnosed with cancer, (Stacy) my wife stepped into my life. We had been ministering to each other on Facebook and it just felt perfectly in sync with what we were going through,” Flores said. “Out of all the women that could have come in my life at that moment, she just so happened to be a hospice nurse. Of all the women I had brought home, when my grandma saw Stacy, she told me that was the woman I was going to marry.” Another scripture became evident in his life’s journey; Romans 8:28 – All things happen to the good of those who love God according to His perfect will. The timing of Stacy stepping into the lives of their family was not only welcomed, but needed. She was able to walk the family through the final stages as Flores’ grandma passed away. While the valley of his grandmother’s passing could have caused a downward spiral in his story, it opened a door to more blessings from God. As the family moved forward from the loss, Stacy and one of Flores’ aunts decided to invest in the business that was starting to take off. No longer would he be walking around town, but
instead able to drive around town in a truck that was provided by his wife, and his aunt bought the first stickers to help him promote. His business continued to flourish.
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“One of my biggest blessings with this business is that I get to pray with my customers,” he said. “In addition to that I am able to give back to my church, my community and those in need … in a sense God uses me to give back.” While Flores’ story began on a rocky foundation, it hasn’t stopped him from moving forward, pressing into God and using what he has been given to make a difference. Turning back isn’t an option, but that’s not to say that there haven’t been times when he has questioned the purpose or the Lord’s blessing on this part of his journey. “There was a time, a couple weeks ago, that I had a struggle within trying to decide if this was the enemy attacking me or if the Lord was saying this part of my journey – my business – was over,” Flores said. One of the most rewarding parts of his journey, besides being able to share Jesus with his clients, is the fact that he can take something ‘ugly’ and see the beauty in it and be part of that transformation. The irony in the story is surreal. Through God’s mercy, Flores’ story was able to be transformed and made to have the beauty shine through, just as each of the projects that he is hired to do. “Who would have ever thought that an ex-con would be stepping into
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the homes of judges, lawyers, doctors and other well-to-do professionals and be making repairs in their home,” he said. “Knowing that these people worked so hard to get what they have and they are trusting me to take care of it … that means a lot.” He continued, “It brings the story full circle. I remember the last time I got caught breaking into houses, I had to face the owner of that house and the words he spoke to me stuck with me … ‘Do you have any idea how hard I’ve worked to get the things I have and within minutes you come in and take it …’ I never broke into another house again.” The downfalls that were at the beginning of his story helped build the strong foundation that Flores stands on today. The hard lessons that resulted as consequences for his actions helped him to appreciate the grace extended to him by God and the beauty that engulfs his story today. “I wouldn’t have learned to appreciate the little things in life; it’s the little things like making an elderly woman smile, most importantly see them crying knowing I did something for them … no way to describe that...” he said. “Knowing you just helped someone … “ As Flores has continued to grasp the opportunity that his obedience to God had brought upon his life, he continues to do his part and build upon the opportunity he has been given. He used his time in prison to build his knowledge base which helped equip him for his business; he has gained certifications from Howard College which has also expanded his knowledge base and skill level. “Most people waste it by selling drugs or … but while I can’t say that I have been perfect from the beginning, but by the grace of God I have left the wrong turns I made behind me and continue to embrace the future and the opportunities that lay before me,” he said. “I realized one day I need to change my life, it was at my lowest moment that I realized I had two choices, change my life or spend the rest of my life in prison or possibly dead.” The stories of his wrong doings have not returned void, just as the word and promises of God do not return void for those who are willing to listen and trust. Flores has done motivational speaking to youth in prison, been part of other prison ministries, spoke to college students entering the criminal justice field, and spreads the good word with clients and those who crosses paths with. “Hopefully I will be able to step into full-time ministry and maybe
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even playing music … I love music,” he said. “Going into a prison and ministering … because if I can do it, anyone can do it. As my Pastor says, ‘He will use all your tests for a testimony and all your mess for a message’ and that inspires me to see that when I feel like giving up, God shows up.” He continued, “One of my biggest sayings is, if you hang out at a barber shop you are going to get a haircut eventually. The same things applies biblically aspect, bad company corrupts good morals. “Everything I do now is to be the son I never was; grandson I never had the chance to be and a husband in bond to be,” he said. “I owe my mama a lot of credit, Aurora Dominguez, along with my family who supported me.” The beginning of our story does not have to determine the end of our story, but if we allow it, it can serve as a might strong foundation to the blessings that are waiting to be poured out upon us.
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Living Magazine 9
By DUSTIN POPE It’s summer; the kids are out of school; maybe they are going to different summer camps, and everything is busy right now. However, there is nothing better than sitting down with the family and watching a movie together. Here are a few of my favorite sports movies you may want to try out. I’ll break down a few family movies for your entire family to watch, and then there are some that maybe the kiddos should watch. Ok, so if you know me by now, you know I’m a baseball guy, so it should come as no surprise that one of my favorite family movies is none other than The Sandlot. The Sandlot is your classic family movie filled with laughs, and of course, baseball. This film follows a group of kids in 1962. The group
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of friends bonds together over a summer of baseball, learning about life and getting out of the biggest pickle ever. The Sandlot is an excellent movie for any age. I’m sure most people have already seen it, but check it out again. Another of my favorite movies is yet another baseball movie. Surprise! This one, however, may not be appropriate for all ages. It’s Major League. This movie follows the Cleveland Indians team full of misfits put together to finish in dead last. It’s an all-time classic baseball movie filled with a lot of laughs along the way. The film stars Charlie Sheen as Rick “Wild Thing” Vaughn, Tom Berenger as Jake Taylor, and
Wesley Snipes who played Willie Mays Hayes. This movie is about as funny as they come, but like I said, maybe not suitable for all ages. Bull Durham comes in next for me, and similar to Major League, this one is not appropriate for all ages. Bull Durham follows Crash Davis, played by Kevin Costner. This movie depicts minor league baseball better than any other movie I’ve seen. It has laughs all the way through, but keeps the realism of baseball throughout the entire movie. Like the previous two movies, I’m sure most of you have seen Bull Durham, especially if you like baseball, but if you scroll across it while flipping through the channels, stop and give it a watch. Ok, so enough baseball movies for a bit; let us get to the heart of what West Texas is all about. This movie is set very close to home -- Friday Night Lights. Now I’m almost certain most have seen this movie. Friday Night Lights is based on the book by the same name. It follows the Odessa Permian Panthers in the 1988 football season. The film follows Permian Panther Head Football Coach Gary Gaines and his players battling for the State Championship. It does a great job depicting how we, as West Texas take our football so seriously. Now it’s time for an all-time classic. Rocky is the story of a down on his luck boxer who is offered the opportunity of a lifetime when he gets a shot to face the world champion Apollo Creed. Rocky won the Oscar for best picture in 1977. This film stars a young Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Carl Weathers, and Burt Young. It’s the classic underdog story that will warm your heart and is a must-watch. My next movie on the list is another baseball movie. This one is A League of Their Own. This movie came out in 1992 and told the true story of the 1943 baseball season. With America in the middle of World War 2, the war threatened to shut down the MLB baseball season. A few of the owners bankrolled an all-women’s league, and this is its story. The movie is a classic and has many superstar actors. Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Madonna, and Rosie O’Donnell. This film will bring plenty of laughs, all while offering a glimpse into the past and a big part of the history of baseball. Another excellent time period baseball movie is 42. This is the story of the great Jackie Robinson. This movie came out in 2013 and starred the late great Chadwick Boseman, Harrison Ford, and Christopher Meloni. Boseman plays the lead role of Jackie Robinson. This movie follows all the trials and tribulations that Robinson faced in the 1947 MLB season as the first black ballplayer. Robinson was one of the greatest players in the game's history. He is so good that MLB has retired the number 42 in honor of Robinson. The only time
players can wear the number 42 is on Jackie Robinson day, and on that day everyone in the MLB dons the 42 number to recognise the great Robinson. Next up is a movie about hockey. It’s called Miracle, and this movie details one of the biggest upsets in sports history when the young USA hockey team defeated the Russian Hockey team in the 1980 Olympics. They released the film in 2004 and it stars Kurt Russell as Head Coach Herb Brooks. The movie tells the story of a group of young Hockey players coming together and learning how to be a team. This is another classic underdog movie. It’s an excellent movie for the complete family. Next up is Remember the Titans. This is another Disney movie and is based on a true story. This movie follows Head Football Coach Herman Boone, who Denzel Washington portrayed. It tells the story of Coach Boone trying to put together a football team in the year 1971. This tells the story of a group that attempts to be one of the first football teams to integrate Black and White players. The movie shows the struggles the team had to get along and accept each other but try to win on and off the field. This is one of the best football movies ever made and is always a good watch. Cool Runnings is another comedy movie that’s great for the entire family. This Disney movie is loosely based on the first-ever Jamaican bobsled team that competed in the 1988 Winter Olympics. The film came out in 1993 and starred John Candy and Leon Robinson. They filled this movie with laughs from start to finish, but it also shows the will and drive to be great at something new to you. The Karate Kid was one of my favorite movies growing up, and yes, I’m talking about the original, not that remake they did a few years back. The movie follows Daniel Larusso, a young man who moves to a new town and is bullied. He meets his mentor and best friend, Mr. Miyagi, who then teaches the boy Karate. Daniel doesn’t just learn the art of Karate but learns confidence and self-respect. In the end, Daniel can stand up to the main bully, Johnny Lawrence. The movie had two more sequels and now has a hit show called Cobra Kai that continues the story. It’s an excellent movie for the entire family to sit around and enjoy. Another all-time classic is the basketball movie Hoosiers. They made this movie in 1986 and tells a story of Norman Dale - a legendary Basketball coach with a spotty past. He gets his shot at redemption in a tiny Indiana town. In Indiana, they take basketball like we West Texans take their football, so the coach has a hard time winning over the players and the town’s support. This film stars Gene Hackman, Dennis Hopper, and Barbara Hershey. This is another heartwarming underdog story. You watch a team from a small town grow together and learn the game of basketball, all the while, of course, learning valuable life lessons. The film is an older movie, but it’s still a great family watch. So these are just a few sports movies. I didn’t even get into some of the best sports documentaries like the 10-part series The Last Dance that follows the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls. This is a great binge watch when you have the time. So if you are looking for a good sports movie for you and the family or just yourself, then give some of these a try. Living Magazine 11
By JOEL MILLER
I have said this before, but for new readers I will say it again. I am an 85 year old man, in fairly good health and mentally stable (my assessment). I sometimes have these thoughts I am compelled to write down. So it is with this article. Sometime at night I get to thinking about things I have seen in my lifetime. Some are natural and some are weird. The earliest I can remember is when I was about four years old. We lived in Hobbs, New Mexico. The house was next to an alley or my mother would have never
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me to answer all the enrollment questions. She would tell people how sent me to the neighborhood Mom-and-Pop grocery. She would give me five cents and send me down the alley to get a loaf of bread. After proud of me she was until the teacher asked “and what does your Daddy call your Mother,” to which I answered “Sometimes he calls her a while I would come home with the bread and a piece of candy. She an old wet hen.” That has been a family joke ever since. told dad about it and he went to the store and found I would stand During this time we used Colgate Tooth Powder. I don’t know if they there until they gave me the candy just so I would go home. He gave even had a paste. We would take the top off the can and pour a small them some money and said when that ran out to just let him know. amount of powder into our palm, wet the toothbrush, and load the The point of this story is five-cent bread and the trust in sending a brush up with the powder. Of course this would leave a mess in our four-year-old boy to get the bread. My grandparents had a farm west of Marlow, Oklahoma. When I was hand and we would have to hold the toothbrush in our mouth while growing up, I used to visit every week-end and work (play). There was no indoor Open Monday – Friday 9:00 AM - 7:00 PM Saturday – Sunday 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM plumbing so that meant there was an URGENT CARE PROFESSIONALS outdoor toilet. Come summer or winter that was what we used during the day. At night YOU CAN RELY ON we has metal pails (thunder mugs). We Serving our community for their medical also had to carry water for our baths, given needs from strep to stitches! in a big wash tub. The water well was hand dug and you Allergy Testing and School and Annual Diagnostic Blood overlooked anything that was in the water Treatment Physical Exams Flu Shots and when you pulled the water pail to the top. Occupational Medicine DOT Physicals Vaccinations This included our drinking water. Coal oil was the fuel, and medicine, for lights and IV Therapy and X-Rays Splinting and Sutures Pregnancy Testing treating most illnesses. Mercurochrome STD Panels Treatment for a Wide Preventative (monkey blood) was the preferred cure for Covid-19 Rapid Testing Variety of Illnesses and Screenings a sore throat, using a Q-tip soaked in the Injuries Pediatric medicine. Pain Management Diabetes Testing Our soap was lye soap, homemade in a big black wash pot once a year, at hog killing time. We also grew most of what we ate during the year. All “canned goods” was home canned by the whole family as it came into season. The telephone was a wall-mounted, han- crank, eight-party line. My uncle, Verle Ray, and I used to stand on a stool and listen in on all the neighbor’s conversations. When I was six, it was time to start Walk-Ins Welcome! school. I remember the high steps going (432) 264-1911 | 1700 West FM 700 Ste. B | Big Spring, TX into the school building and Mother trusting Living Magazine
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we washed our hand. Messy, yes. But that was just one of the many things we laugh about now. When I was nine, Halliburton Oil Well and Cementing Company transferred my Dad to Cut Bank, Montana. It was during WWII and there were a lot of complications in traveling during the war. Dad had to arrange for extra gas rations and rubber tire coupons. At that time you were lucky to get 6,000 to 8,000 miles on a set of tires, but since Dad’s job was essential to the war effort, he was granted the extra rations. It was a hard three-day travel for all of us, since I would get really car sick. Dramamine would not be invented for me for about 10 more years. I remember once, my Uncle Claude wanted me to fly with him to Okla. City. I hung my head out the window all the way, throwing up. I did the same thing on the sidewalks in the City. I started the third grade there that fall and was soon addicted to playing marbles during recess. Mother would give me 10 cents for lunch money and I would go to the Five and Dime and buy a five-cent bag of marbles nearly every day. Since I was not good at winning, I usually had to get more marbles to play. I played with the same boy and lost to the same boy every day. It was this same boy that told me there was no Santa Claus. I was also able to eat a lunch for the remaining five cents. We also had stamp day, once a week, to buy War Bonds. The stamps were 10 cents and there were approximately 200 stamps to fill up a book. The money went to WWII for buying equipment to fight the war. Mother would give me and my sister what she could afford to buy 201 W. Marcy the stamps.
We also would cut the top and bottom out of tin cans, flatten them and save them for pick-up once a month. We also peeled off the tin foil from cigarette and gum packets and saved that also. We were very diligent about saving, as the war was very close to everyones’ heart. In some way everyone had a part, whether it was someone in the military, the job your Dad held or a neighbor’s family. We also grew “victory gardens”, with carrots, radishes and tomatoes so there would be enough food for our military. I never found out who got my share. While in Montana, I contacted pneumonia. Part of the treatment was a new wonder drug called penicillin. The shots were in wax and the injection site had to be rubbed until all was absorbed. Those shots really hurt, especially for a nine-year-old boy. During the winter, we took our ice skates to school. After school, we would go to the outdoor rink and clean the snow off the ice and skate until our father came and got us. This was the trust we earned, that we were responsible enough to go where we wanted during the day. Dad was a oil well cementer for Halliburton. To frac and cement, they would have to send down a “torpedo” loaded with powder and steel bullets. It was Dad’s job to load the torpedo. He would put on blasting powder, the shot, and then seal each hole. When on site, he would set off the blast in the drilled hole. What would OSHA say about that now? In the summer of 1947, we moved back to Duncan, Oklahoma. Dad bought two trucks and started the Joe Miller Oilfield Trucking Co. I learned to drive when I was 13, driving a one ton and one-half Chevy truck. I was working in rail cars unloading cement and pipe during the summer and on week-ends. When we were on country roads, the truck drivers would let me drive the loaded trucks.
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(432) 267-3363
By KAY SMITH
Art can help us deal with pain and grief we encounter in our daily lives. Art cannot enforce peace, redress economic grievances, cure cancer, or erase social unrest or religious intolerance. Many times through the years young students have enrolled in my Monday classes. Most were referred by their behavioral health providers while a few were or had been in chemotherapy. Making art helps them take their minds off their troubles. When I worked in a children’s psychiatric hospital with the University of Virginia, they had a large art department that served its purpose well in healing and helping. The children did not want to miss their art activities. When painting is done you are totally focused and in an alpha state and is a right-brain function. The act of painting helps you emotionally but it also helps you physically. If a fellow artist says they are going through a bad time I strongly encourage them to pick up their art supplies and get busy, even if they do not produce anything worth framing. People have used drawings in healing ceremonies throughout history. The act of creating art is comforting and soothing to the soul. The body may react to the pleasant and joyous mood by enabling the healing process. Art heals the artist who makes it and it can in turn heal the viewer who sees it. Watching and photographing attendees at
yesterday’s Heritage Museum art show reception revealed smiles on all the faces. Artists were excited to host the public and encouraged attendance at the free event. Even with a thunderstorm on the horizon we all left elated. Visit Brushworks at 2106 Scurry; https://kaysmith.artspan.com Living Magazine
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Welcome Back! Have you been delaying routine care due to concerns related to the Corona Virus? Now is the time to catch up! Martin County Family Clinic maintains a clean and safe environment for you and your family. We want to welcome you back into the facility for all your healthcare needs.
Do You Know Medicare Offers Free Services? These services include: *Welcome to Medicare visit: If you are new to Medicare, this initial "welcome" visit is covered at no cost to you! This visit includes a review of your medical history, education, counseling about preventative services and certain screenings, flu and pneumococcal shots and referrals for other care.
*Annual Wellness Visit: A yearly appointment with your Primary Care Provider (PCP) to create or update your personalized prevention plan.
Call (432) 607-3243 to schedule your appointment today!
FAMILY CLINIC
Now accepting new patients. Same-day appointments are available!
Living Magazine
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