Sunday, February 20, 2011

do we perceive beauty?

In Washington , DC , at a Metro Station, on a cold January morning in 2007, this man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, approximately 2,000 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After about 3 minutes, a middle-aged man noticed that there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds, and then he hurried on to meet his schedule.

About 4 minutes later:

The violinist received his first dollar. A woman threw money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.


At 6 minutes:

A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

At 10 minutes:

A 3-year old boy stopped, but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head the whole time. This action was repeated by several other children, but every parent - without exception - forced their children to move on quickly.
At 45 minutes:

The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.
After 1 hour:

He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed and no one applauded. There was no recognition at all.
No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest 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 a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100 each to sit and listen to him play the same music.
This is a true story. Joshua Bell, playing incognito in the D.C Metro Station, was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people's priorities.

This experiment raised several questions:


*In a common-place environment, at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?



*If so, do we stop to appreciate it?



*Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?



One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made...



How many other things are we missing as we rush through life?



Enjoy life NOW .. it has an expiration date.

3 comments:

  1. Hi Lacey!
    What a beautiful story, and a great lesson. Thanks for sharing it with us. Thank you for taking time to stop by and visit my blog. So glad to go thru the journey of Soul Restoration with you. ♥

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  2. Good morning Lacey!
    I was "slipping" very "quickly" through the list of the Brave Girls blogs involved in this Blog Hop and came upon this post. I want to thank you for posting it! It is beautiful (from the child's point of view), it is alarming, it is sad, it is real and so true!
    This post has touched me in a way I had not anticipated being touched today! I will slow my pace. I will take notice. I will copy this post and send it to my friends and family. I will print off a copy to hang by my desk.
    This post came at a time when my heart and my mind are feeling a bit overwhelmed and I was "running" through my thoughts, through my day. This made me realize I become inundated with tasks and info and I don't realize it until I miss something beautiful, and later....much too late, I come to realize it.
    Thank you!

    Sue Hetherington (SR 1 fellow Brave Girl)

    p.s. Please feel free to drop by my blog at:
    elementsofhomecleaning.blogspot.com

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  3. Hi Sue - thank you for such a beautiful comment! I think we all need to stop and slow down in the is busy world!!!!!

    I did stop by your blog as well - super cute and I'm also in lvoe with pillows!

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