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 thousand 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?
Life is a flowing river of happiness- its upto you to
carry a spoon or a bucket !!
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