I found this to be amazing.  We are all so guilty of being captured by marketing and packaging.  If you put a young man playing a 3.5 million dollar Stradivarius violin in the middle of a subway line rather than a concert hall, no one stops to listen.  The marketing isn’t right?  I think the timing wasn’t right.  People trying to get to work on time cannot take the time to stop and listen even if they wanted to.

We don’t leave for work a little early because there might be a concert violinist playing at the subway station. I was late for class once though because the greatest classic guitar player in the world (in my opinion) was playing in the cafeteria at Broward Community College. (I called it beer can college, I loved it there)  He played all the parts of Bohemian Rhapsody and gave it a Spanish flair.  He was a foreign student from South America (Brazil I think) practicing for his final exam in his music class.  I hope he is living a happy life.

Perception

Something to think about….

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 approximately. 2 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.

What do you suppose was learned from this experiment?

maybe that is why we drive slower as we age.  We learn from missing out to take in the journey more so then the destination.  Leave a little earlier on your way to work or school, because something majestic is always happening somewhere.