Perception, Taste and Priorities
Dutch2
1,590 Posts
A Violinist in the Metro
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 averaged $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?
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 averaged $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?
Comments
Now mimes, on the other hand... I usually just make exaggerated motions pretending to drop money in the jar. I think they admire my tribute to their craft, but I'm not sure - they don't come out and say as much.
:-0 hbtu 0-:
[URL]http://bit.ly/9P15JY[/URL]
[URL]http://www.snopes.com/music/artists/bell.asp[/URL]
In 2007, [I]Washington Post[/I] writer Gene Weingarten enlisted renowned violinist Joshua Bell, a winner of the Avery Fisher Prize for outstanding achievement in classical music who regularly undertakes over 200 international engagements a year, to spend part of a morning playing incognito at the entrance to a Washington Metro station during a morning rush hour.
[I]The Washington Post[/I] won a Pulitzer in the feature writing category for the story about the experiment.
I wonder how many people read the article in the Post and realized they were part of the crowd that didn't appreciate the renowned violinist and what their reactions were.
Hmmm. I am being very negative, huh? I guess I need to hit the chocolate.
A friend of mine sent that video and article to me several years ago, and it actually changed the way I think to some degree. I think we all have a bit of cynic in us (or in my case, sarcastic shrew), but what I really took away from the story was the importance of stopping and smelling the proverbial roses.
I think about how quickly I rush around - always searching for the fastest route home, the quickest walk to the subway, the most efficient use of my time. Now, I try to always be mindful of my surroundings - there's a lot of beauty in the everyday goings-on of the city, whether it's a public art sculpture, an interesting building facade, a beautiful sunset, you get the picture.
It's a rather Zen/Buddhist view of things, and you are free to mock me, but living in the moment is priceless, and I've noticed it does wonders for my stress level (not to mention the occasional taming of the sarcastic shrew).
I realize I'm on a bit of a soapbox, but I truly hope everyone takes a moment from time to time to live in the present, and appreciate what's in front of them every day. While you might not walk past the next Itzhak Perlman or Joshua Bell, you could be walking past someone simply trying to enrich the lives of those around them with a little music, beauty, or art.
I have to admit, when I travel and use public transportation like the subway, I'm a bit less relaxed because I don't do it very often & I get nervous about getting on the wrong train or something, so I might be less apt to stop and enjoy something like the violinist, but I'd be willing to bet that I at least would have noticed his playing and said something like "What the heck is somebody that talented doing playing in the subway?!!"
O:)
I'm in the southern part of S.E. Alaska. On a daily basis, we have the opportunity to see such beautiful scenery and I am constantly in awe of it, even though I've been looking at it all my life.
::angryface::
I'm not surprised by how many people hurry on past and don't pay attention to what is around them.