Joshua Bell
The story featured in this post was what I had received in my email recently. It’s a very interesting story that’ll get you to think about what have you been missing in your busy life.
Read on. It’s a very short story. It’d probably just take you 2 minutes.
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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 theatre 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 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?
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Cheers~
Mark
P.S. Is there anything you think we should take a moment to appreciate in our busy lives? Please let us know in the comments section.
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on Apr 29th, 2009 at 10:29 am
That’s a fascinating story. It’s hard to stay awake and avoid the numbness that is so prevalent in our society, specially in large, noisy cities.
Part of the problem could be the local customs. In other parts of the world a person with a drum or a guitar on a street corner can start a party. That’s why it’s important to travel a little and experience other cultures.
on Apr 29th, 2009 at 7:35 pm
Hi Liz,
Thank you for your comment. I agree it’s always great to experience other cultures and learn from them. I always seek to learn something whenever I go travelling. But sometimes it can be a bit of a culture shock.
Cheers~
Mark
on Apr 29th, 2009 at 11:06 pm
There’s more to enjoying music than an excellent musician and an expensive instrument. The environment plays a role and obviously the acoustics. But the story tells nicely that it pays off to sometimes slow down and enjoy a moment – you may experience unexpected excellence, in particular with street/subway musicians.
on Apr 30th, 2009 at 6:04 am
Hi Oliver,
You’re right. There’s always unexpected excellence to be uncovered in our daily lives. We just need to take a moment to observe and pay more attention to the greatness around us rather than be too absorbed in our everyday business.
Cheers~
Mark
on May 1st, 2009 at 6:47 pm
Wow!
Amazing story.
I saw something similar about a uk billionaire who wanted to help others, so he decided to go incognito and apply as a normal factory worker. People had no idea.
Looks can be deceiving but ultimately, beauty and talent can be found in most places, like you say, you just have to keep your eyes and ears open:)
on May 1st, 2009 at 10:58 pm
Mark,
This is such a great story. Thank you for posting. I too have been guilty of not taking notice of beauty and talent of some of these musicians in the NY subway system. So this was a great experiment with quite an ironic twist.
For me, I wish that I would enjoy the weather when its good by going out more. I tend to be a homebody and miss out quite a bit.
on May 2nd, 2009 at 2:27 am
@diggy: Yes, we need to keep our eyes and ears open not only for the beauty around us, but also for opportunities and life lessons to be learnt.
@Stephanie Treasure: Everyone of us has been guilty of being too busy to take note of the treasures before us. But it’s still not too late to start now.
Cheers~
Mark
on May 3rd, 2009 at 6:59 am
Wow… what a great story! I’m a big believer in taking the time to notice and appreciate the beauty that surrounds us. And I love how kids still take the time to notice all the little things, even when their parents are too busy to do so themselves.
I’ll never forget one of the loveliest concerts I’ve ever heard was by a blind, homeless musician in an alley in Paris (quite a few moons ago)… perhaps that was some superstar in disguise!
on May 4th, 2009 at 12:06 am
Hi Lisis,
I’m glad you like the story. It really got me thinking too when I first read it. I’ve been so guilty of overlooking such treasures in my life. It’s time for me to learn how to appreciate the hidden gems in life. I think that will make life so much more interesting.
Cheers~
Mark
on May 8th, 2009 at 4:31 pm
[...] What Have You Been Missing In Your Busy Life?, from Mark, at The Big [...]
on May 9th, 2009 at 6:33 am
Hi Mark – this story was my introduction to your site – well done.
I absolutely love Bach, and I think, well, if I was on the platform at that time, that I would have been enchanted enough to have stopped to listen.
Beauty is often in such unexpected places – the contrast of tree branches against a strong blue sky, the sparkle of a water droplet, the exquisite formation of a rose in a vase on our desk.
I DO try to live my life in appreciation of beauty, but we can’t always stop the momentum of our lives to savour the moment. I trust that beauty will always be found, and I guess it kind of moves with me through life.
Marlowe
PS – keep up the great work!
on May 9th, 2009 at 3:20 pm
Hi Marlowe,
Thank you for dropping by and leaving a comment.
You’re right that we can’t always stop the momentum of our lives to savour the moment. And it’s great that you do try. I’ve started to pay more attention to them now and realise how life can be very simple, yet beautiful.
Cheers~
Mark
on Jun 12th, 2009 at 10:02 pm
It’s funny, here in Italy it is *strictly* forbidden to play music in the underground… I have some difficult to find a pub for playing with my band however…
We’re missing a lot of things.
Thank you for you valuable post, I’ll subscribe to this amazing blog
Paolo