Soul Food May 2009

Make time for moments of beauty

A man sat at a metro station in Washington, D.C., and started to play the violin. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, thousands of people rushed through the station.

Three minutes into his playing, a middle-aged man noticed the music, slowed his pace and listened for a few seconds. 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. The one who paid the most attention was a 3-year-old boy. Finally, the mother insisted that the child continue to walk, but he turned his head to continue watching.

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 six 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 no one applauded. No one knew this small fact: 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. Two days before playing in the subway, Bell sold out a theater in Boston at a $100 per seat.

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 that asked whether we perceive beauty in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour. If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing some of the best music ever written, we are missing many other moments of beauty as well. -- Adapted from an item circulating on the Internet