This article was sent to me by a dear friend and I thought it was fitting to remind us that we could be missing out on something extraordinary because of the rush we put ourselves in on a daily basis...
The lesson--Our children can teach us to stop and smell roses, follow their lead.
Something to think about...
Washington DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007. The
violinist played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time,
approximately 2 thousand people went through the station, most of them
on their way to work.
After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing.
He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to
meet his schedule.
Four minutes later, the violinist received his first dollar. A woman
threw the money in the till and, without stopping, continued to walk.
Six minutes after that, a young man leaned against the wall to listen to
him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.
Ten minutes later, a 3-year-old boy stopped to look at the violinist,
but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. Finally the mother pushed
hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time.
This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent,
without exception, forced them to move on.
Forty-five minutes later the musician played.. Only six people stopped
and stayed for a while. About 20 people gave him money, but continued to
walk their normal pace.
He collected $32.00.
One hour later he finished playing and silence took over. No one
noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.
No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the finest
musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever
written with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars.
Two days before Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston where the
seats averaged $100.00 each.
This is a real story.
Joshua Bell playing incognito in the Metro Station was organized by the
Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste
and people's priorities.
The questions raised:
* In a common place environment at an inappropriate hour, do we
perceive beauty?
* Do we stop to appreciate it?
* Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?
One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be:
* If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the
finest musicians in the world playing some of the most beautiful music
ever written with one of the most magnificent instruments ever created,
how many other things are we missing?
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