Ep. 15 - The Surface and the Depth Ft. Ben Von Duke - Find the Good News with Oran Parker

In this episode of Find the Good News, I have a long visit with Southwest Louisiana musician-and-artist Ben Von Duke. This was a good encounter for me. I really didn’t know Ben before this visit. I’d only experienced his music through his band, The Von Dukes, and I had seen his artwork on display at a variety of local events. Without knowing the man, I’d unknowingly built up my own version of what he would be like. That composite I’d fabricated of Ben could not have been more wrong. This man behind the art and music is as peaceful and gentle an individual as I’d ever met. There was no pretension here. I felt that Ben was authentic, honest, and kind. This encounter with Ben was good for me because it helped breakthrough the programming in my mind—a programming I suspect many of us have—that subconsciously classifies and draws sketches of people based on limited information. There’s no doubt that I talk a lot more than Ben, but in allowing me to pick at his brain I feel that I was able to scratch through the surface and get to the depth, not just to the depths of Ben Von Duke, but also through the surface of my own limited understanding. As hard as I work, I still have a mind that leans toward judgment. Whether he knows it or not, Ben helped me wrestle through those old impulses. By the end of our conversation, I felt like a better version of myself. By showing me his honest mind and heart, perhaps Ben helped me find a little more of my own goodness. 

==========

THIS EPISODE IS SPONSORED BY PARKER BRAND CREATIVE SERVICES >> www.ParkerBrandUp.com

FOR MORE INFO ON BEN VON DUKE >> www.facebook.com/ben.vonduke