Monday Thought: Do We Have Time to Notice the Beauty?

As we begin the new week, I want to share a very interesting real experiment that was done at Washington DC Metro Station by Washington Post. (Caution: This is a 2007 feature and some of you may have already read about it earlier)

Joshua Bell is one of the greatest musicians in the world. On a cold January morning at Washington DC Metro Station, he stood against a wall and played one of the most intricate pieces ever written for 45 minutes, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. During those 45 minutes, nearly 2000 people walked past him on their way to work.

Amazingly, only 6 people stopped by and listened for a short while and about 20 people gave money, but did not stop to listen. At the end of 45 minutes, Joshua Bell (whose last super-hit show tickets were sold at minimum of $100 per seat) collected mere $32.

Imagine world’s best musician playing incognito at a busy/crowded place with the most expensive instrument – and very few people appreciating the gift of Joshua Bell and the beauty of what he was playing.

I first read this story on Patrick Driessen’s blog and then read the source feature  at Washington Post.

As Patrick rightly concludes,

“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?”

Interesting question to ruminate upon this week! Have a great one ahead!