Stop and Hear The Music

Everyone's lives seem to be so busy. I sometimes fall in to bed at night wondering what even happened that morning - the days are so full of lovely friends, inspiring work, and of course the mundane stuff such as washing the clothes, the dishes...

Today I realised the ability that children have to help one forget about all the concerns and deadlines in the world and focus on the 'real stuff'.  This morning my son and I danced in the beautiful autumn leaves for the first time together.  It was such bliss to run through a carpet of crunchy orange leaves and throw them up in the air and feel them falling on our heads.  Moments like that I will treasure for ever. Although it did make me realise: that was the first time I had done that since I was a child.

This morning my friend Alice shared a true story with me and it made me stop and think about how busy and rushed so many of us are, and how in the busy-ness of  everything we can so easily forget about beauty and 'life'. I wanted to share it with more people. (Thanks Alice!)

In Washington , DC , at a Metro Station, on a cold January morning in 2007, this man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, approximately 2,000 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

• After about 3 minutes, a middle-aged man noticed that there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds, and then he hurried on to meet his schedule.
• After about 4 minutes: The violinist received his first dollar. A woman threw money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.
• At 6 minutes: A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.
  
• At 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 the whole time. This action was repeated by several other children, but every parent - without exception - forced their children to move on quickly.
  
• At 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.
  
• After 1 hour: He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed and no one applauded. There was no recognition at all.
  

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 each to sit and listen to him play the same music.

Joshua Bell, playing incognito in the D.C. Metro Station, was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people's priorities.
This experiment raised several questions:

• In a common-place environment, at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?
  
• If so, 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 as we rush through life?

(The full story, with video clips, can be viewed here.)

The part of this that really touched me was the image of the mother hurrying her child along.  I have been that mother! I am going to try and remember this story whenever I have the urge to hurry my child along. I need to appreciate and love that children don't follow deadlines, and this is the beauty of childhood.