Art as reality

from my friend russ:
three times Peter tells these people who are dying (because they've sworn allegiance to a Jewish carpenter turned Rabbi and chosen him as their king) three times he tells them to be sober - alert. we are going to look chiefly at what Peter calls "preparing your mind", the mind's role in being aware to reality. Jason, I've thought of you and how much more aware you are to life than us schlupps. And that scene in A Beautiful Mind, toward the end when John asks one of his students if she can see the man he's talking to. It's about living in the light of ultimate reality. there's more to life than just what we can see and especially more to it than what our individualist, consumerist, nationalist culture says there is. that's why we teach and learn and discuss so that we can remind ourselves what is real. and the more aware of reality we are, the more likely we are to live in tune with it.

my response:
i had professor once say something like: poetry does a better job of representing reality and the human experience than the text books and media. so i am thinking that art should be added to one of the ways in which to prepare your mind. art tries to see the world in a fresh and new way. mitra and i were just talking about mike and what a great inspiration he has been to me in regards to living life. i think he is one of the best role models i have around me for how to live life like you are seeing it for the first time. experience it all anew. he, as mitra says, has an innocent charm that allows him to be excited about anything life may bring. i think of mike's mind as prepared in peter's sense.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIKE!