A story: What are we missing....???
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, and 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 most talented musicians in the world. He had just played one
of the most intricate pieces ever written, on a violin worth $3.5 million dollars.
Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theatre in
Boston where 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 a 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?
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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