Chris Corrigan, of ParkingLot fame, gave me a little gift this evening. I mentioned that we’ve got tickets to see Utah Phillips in a few weeks here in Chicago. Chris, of course, had a story. And since it’s way too late here, I’m going to skip to the punchline:
If you ask people about the things they know about, they’ll always tell you the truth.
This, as opposed to asking them about the stuff they merely absorb from books and media and such. The stuff they do is the stuff they know. Ask the cowboy about cowboy songs, not politics. Ask the rancher about his work, not about Indians and treaties. Ask everyone about their own work and such, and then find the connections to your own process and the rest of what you know. Chris says he learned this from Phillips. I’m looking forward to the direct transmission next month.
maybe the famed author at parking lot will share those stories in writing one day… they are such rich mentoring stories about the rancher and the cowboy. in chicago i tried to retell chris’ story about utah phillips to him. hee hee… it was much better to hear him tell it again!!