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Perception .... something to think about...
Washington, DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007. The man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approximately two thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.
4 minutes later:
The violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.
6 minutes:
A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.
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 all the time. This action was repeated by several other children.. Every parent, without exception, forced their children to move on quickly.
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.
1 hour:
He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.
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..
This is a true 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 people's priorities. The questions raised: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty? 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?
After reading this bit, I was really shocked. The world simply moves too fast. Why are we in dire need of progression? Music is such a miracle and the fact that these people ignored it is truly sad. Isn't there a way to just slow down the tempo of our lives? People definitely missed the best, free concert they will ever get the chance to see.
ReplyDeleteI found this article a couple years ago, sent to me by my mother actually. I was blown away as well, and it definitely stayed with me for a while and reminded me that to pay attention to my surroundings.
ReplyDeletehere's a link to a very descriptively article written about this if anyone's interested--there's a video of him playing in the train station as well.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html
This is a beautiful article. If we ALL started creating 'beauty' (What is Beauty, anyways? I think Beauty can only be had as a comparison-- ugliness must be present, too, and the power of the beauty explodes from the meeting point between the dichotomies) would people learn to stop and appreciate more? I'm on a mission, now: be mindful and create moments of beauty to share with other people.
ReplyDeleteI like your notion of beauty, yet I am not so sure. I understand that we live in duality and so it is through contrast that we can see clearly. I wonder if beauty is simply that which touches the core, or from core to core communication, perhaps its the soul's ultimate perception, perhaps there is nothing but beauty when all attempts to fix, do, and control and dropped. Just some ideas
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thats really cool, it would be neat to do this other places.. but i agree with the idea of article, that we tend to miss some of the most beautiful things due to being in a hurry and not appreciating what there is. Interesting too, that if we put a value, and have an idea it should be good, or beautiful or expensive, we will put more time in it, pay more attention.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it's strange how much our expectations shape how we understand the world around us. If we expect something to be beautiful, ie if we pay money for concert tickets, we appreciate it so much more than the incredible, random display of it in a train station when you'd think it would stick out and be more beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThanks for that link, Julia. It was heartbreaking to watch him play for that 35 seconds with no one noticing. Heartbreaking.
ReplyDeleteOh that is such a great article! I find so much more pleasure in these commonplace occurrences than I would in a crowded theater. That is just so funny. The part about the children is very sad though, all our curiousity is simply squeezed out of us. I once heard a very old Japanese woman playing God Bless America on a street corner in Seattle (with one of those instruments that is one long thing string and a bow?) and it made me cry.
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