PF 2011: Let us not be blind
There is so much of beauty and miracles in the world but most of that we pass by everyday without a notice. Our whole life is made up of tiny, seemingly unimportant details and stories. Some of us desire to be successful, some want to be rich or quest for the meaning of life. In the frenzy of modern life we lose the ability to perceive what really is important, genuine and beautiful.
I’m not a good story-teller so I’m attaching to this „muse“ a story told by somebody else – maybe you have heard that story already – it is all about how blind we are to see extraordinary things in our lives, about the naivety we lose, about how we would like to be but we are not…
This time at the end of the year is just like made for us to stop for a while and contemplate. I wish to all of us not to be blind, I wish to all of us to be better men in the new year 2011. If we want to change the world, we need to begin with what we know best - with ourselves. This is my New Year’s wish to those who understand…
The story of one day in January 2007:
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. 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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