contrib by Paul Bleckley
Blog @ 123seminarsonly.com
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 approx. 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 common place 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?
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I say that we must always live in the now and enjoy every moment of our time… We must learn to appreciate even little things around us and be thankful for every breath that we take.
Plus you can add these 4 kids in your mind 
Have a great day! xoxo
Related articles
- Social Experiment with Joshua Bell: One of World’s top Violinists goes Unnoticed in Subway (talesfromthelou.wordpress.com)
- A Man Stood in a Metro Station (fiveliteracies.typepad.com)
- A Violinist in the Metro (roixcroix.wordpress.com)
- There’s magic all around us (susanhendrich.wordpress.com)
- What are we Missing? (dancinglikedavid.wordpress.com)
- Joshua Bell tops list of notables at Bellingham Festival of Music (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
- Top Five Most Astounding Musical Instrument Thefts (wqxr.org)
- Joshua Bell in the DC Metro Station (counterpunch.org)
Wait a minute! I remember that guy– he was good!! And I distinctly remember stopping and listening intently for a half hour, and applauding and shouting “Bravo!” and then I put a $100 bill in his violin case– I remember distinctly!!
Of course I’d just been to the Lemons R Us Café and my hands were sticky from eating donuts, so maybe, just maybe, the $100 bill stuck to my hand. I suppose it’s possible… : P
Hahaha, very funny Mark
The children knew …
Very Dope! I re-posted it to my blog!
Thank you
wonderful post! Thanks for sharing. I always do make an effort to notice everyone and everything around me, but with this I’ll make an extra effort not to miss anything!
You’re very welcome dear
There’s that quirky kite again, but this is a very inspiring post. I aspire to *pay attention always* to beauty. Thank you Dolly. You post beauty every day for us and help us pay attention.
I am so curious about the quirky kite
…. hehehe
Well, you are always welcome my dear friend
The little quirky kite story…when I click on “like”…a little frowny face pale yellow kite pops up instead of the Gravatars I like the sunset or the pink and white pattern. So this weird kite just started hanging out a few seconds when I click “like” and that kite looks like a grumpy kite more than a quirky kite. Maybe somebody can tell me what’s up with that uninvited kite guest!
Hahaha, I did not know that… hmmm very interesting
I will try to find it out… 
I checked it out Brook.. when I click like, I see a little pink heart for a few seconds… You should see the same too… I guess
hehehe
Brook, I think I figured it out now. Go to your Menu and then click Setting. Under it, click discussion. There you will see the quirky kite, known as Wavatar (generated) that you have been seeing every time you click Like.
Perhaps you have mistakenly clicked it as your default gravatar?
hahaha, Let me know, if you have found it….
So sad about how the parents pushed their children through who longed to hear the music. Broke my heart.
I have always contended that children and animals have a wonderful perception that somehow we lose as we “grow up.”
Reblogged this on juwannadoright and commented:
This story shows so clearly that we need to wake up and hear the music.
Thanks so much Juwana for the reblogged
My pleasure. As someone who studied classical piano this story really hit home.
What an insightful story – one from which we all should learn. Thank you for sharing this.
You’re very welcome my dear friend
Such a great story. Just tweeted your post to my Twitter folks.
Thanks a lot Thomas