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March 2nd, 2011 (443 Days Ago)
These are my random thoughts and opinions. Read on straysinger.
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Slow down. Stop and smell the roses.
Slow down. Stop and smell the roses.
This is an article that my father sent me in an e-mail, I've checked with snopes and it is verified as true, the link at the very bottom is video of the performance. Take some time and mull it over after you read it.
A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousands of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.
Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule. A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk. A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.
The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. 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. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.
In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.
No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best 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 his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats average $100.
This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of an social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?
One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?
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LaughingBear wrote 442 Days Ago (positive) 1This is one thing I miss from living in an actual city. The only time I've seen people playing music in public in this town was a group of kids trying to raise money for some mission to South America. They weren't bad, but there's only so many hymns I can take :P0 points
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Kuroloki wrote 443 Days Ago (neutral) 0As someone who has gone to school and work in a major city for 4 years bombarded by beggars and subway performers, I totally believe this happened and understand why he only made $32.1 point -
Dancing_Happens wrote 443 Days Ago (positive) 1I know the discipline is different (hula instead of music) bit this is why my halau dances unexpectedly starting with just one person dancing, then another one joins, and we go until we're all dancing and we finish the song. I enjoyed this SO much, we danced for 1 1/2 on the bayfront of Newport. People were pleasantly surprised and would stop what they were doing to take pictures of us.......I've posted a blog about it if you're interested. Thanks for the post!!!1 point
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