Let me tell you a true story…
Almost four years ago, the Washington Post decided to set up an experiment to prove a cultural point. They wanted to see if ordinary people would recognize genius, and here’s what happened. They put world-renowned violinist Joshua Bell at a busy subway stop, complete with a priceless Stradivarius violin, one hand-crafted in the year 1713. He wore a T-shirt and a baseball cap. He played for a little less than an hour — hauntingly beautiful music that people paid $100+ per seat for recently in a nearby packed concert hall. The people who passed by numbered almost 1100. They left him a total of $32.17 in tips, not counting a $20 bill left by someone who recognized him. Now, I will add here that he’s a really HOT looking guy — tall, handsome and plays on stage looking sort of like Zorro. So you’d think a few more could have recognized him.
Wow, this left the social scientists scratching their heads. Were people simply culturally ignorant – did they not recognize beautiful music? Was classical music dead in America? The piece Joshua started with was Bach’s “Chaconne,” which he describes as “not just one of the greatest pieces of music ever written, but one of the greatest achievements of any man in history. It’s a spiritually powerful piece, emotionally powerful, structurally perfect. Plus, it was written for a solo violin, so I won’t be cheating with some half-assed version.” Oh my…and this drew no crowd. A video camera captured the people hurrying by in a seeming dance of indifference balancing their lattes all the while talking on cellphones. Six minutes after he started, one person stood against a wall and listened. That’s about as good as it got. Incredible! The Washington Post thought they would have a problem with crowd control.
I wonder how many of those hundreds of people who passed by had perhaps paid big money to hear Mr. Bell in concert? We’ll never know. But, what has this to do with us? Consider this short line of poetry:
What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
– from “Leisure,” by W.H. Davies
We’re just too busy. It isn’t that we can’t recognize beauty, we just don’t take time to think about it, much less do it. Anyone could recognize Joshua Bell in a concert hall and appreciate his music, but it was precious few people who weren’t so consumed by busyness they stopped to listen, because they heard something awesome, something beautiful.
What are we missing? What are we not seeing, not hearing? WHO are we not seeing, not hearing?
May I hear from you, my friends? What do you think?
Jeanne, The busy-ness is one more instance of our willingly going “unconscious” and not attending to (and in) the present moment and our physical environment. We are so disconnected from our bodies, from nature, and from beauty (as your example attests) that we don’t recognize beauty when it’s standing live in the subway playing a treasured violin. We tune out. Why? I don’t know the reason exactly. Partially it’s just plain bad habits. But there’s also a willful unconsciousness that is a pernicious plague upon us. Thank you for helping us at least think about paying attention!
Bobbye Middendorf
The Write Synergies Guru
A pernicious plague…I love the way you put that!
You’re indeed my midnight soul sister.
Thanks once again for gracing my blog with your presence!
Hugs,
Jeanne
Wow! I don’t know what to think. It makes me wonder where our “soul” is. Music like that should reach the soul no matter who plays it or where it is played. Perhaps we have become numb because of all the outside stimulation that surrounds us. Over kill… information overload. No room or appreciation for anything else.
I certainly wonder about internet marketers becoming void of spirit because we connect on a virtual basis and not face to face. We isolate ourselves in front of a computer for hours at a time and pack our minds with technology, marketing and promotions. Sometimes I wonder if there’s room for anything else.
I’m serious…I would hope I would have recognized that something beautiful was going on. Who know… Perhaps my mind would be dreaming up a new product to offer my list…. and I would missed the whole thing too.
Great information here that has my brain going into a blog post already about my grandmother’s thoughts on this topic! I will give you a link back for the inspiration! Thank you!
Great topic! I agree with you, Jeanne. Sometimes it seems I get so busy my younger boys have to practically climb in my lap to get me to take a break! It’s not that I’m intentionally ignoring them; rather, I’m so focused on what I’m doing that I don’t realize what I am doing (or did!). It’s very sad but a wonderful reminder that we all should stop for a bit and literally smell a rose, scratch a dog’s ear, pass along a sincere compliment, and give a hug to a stressed-out friend. Those simple things, along with my children, I would never want to miss a moment with.
Strange and sad. Maybe if it was a pop singer, or music band, more people would have stopped. When I lived in London, I would always notice the buskers, but their talent never really took my attention. But I love this post, thanks Jeanne. It has such an important point. When I’m walking along, even with friends, and I see beautiful flowers, I always stop and smell, and people always look at me like Im crazy. What’s so bad about appreciating beauty in our busy lives, and stopping to “smell the roses”?
Life is short 
What a great story. And how sad–to be going through life with a cell phone to one’s ear–missing the beautiful sounds of a musical genius playing beautiful music.
You make an important point, Jeanne. Thank you.
You ask “what are we missing”…and I submit that our lives are so connected it allows us to be disconnected with one another. You no longer have to pay attention to those around you because you can transport yourself wherever you really want to be by looking at an e-mail on your Blackberry or a text on your phone or a phone call or a web page on your iPad.
Part of the reason for what you describe is psychological. Most of the people passing by have never had any exposure to the man or that kind of music probably. So it was just some strange guy playing a violin on a street corner. It may have been pretty but it was out of place and they were too busy to stop and figure out why he was there. In the theater, people go just to see him, he’s in an atmosphere where people know him and the music, and so people get what they expect. In the street they expect it to be some hack playing a violin…in the theater, they expect a master musician…and both audiences get what they expect even though it’s the same guy playing the same song.
Your story reminded me of one of my favorite movies…Mr. Holland’s Opus. And a line from a Beatles song that comes toward the end of the movie. The line is…”Life is what happens when you’re making other plans.” And I think that’s the point you’re trying to make…don’t get so involved in your life that you miss life altogether.
Todd, WOW, you could have written part of the review in the Washington Post, because those are just the points they made about expecting and appreciating things only in context. Kant says we set up the constructs within which we see beauty. Very thoughtful reply, and I thank you!
PS. I, too, love Mr. Holland’s Opus.
Hi Jeanne,
Fabulous post! I’m sure many of us are missing a lot in our everyday lives, however I don’t believe it’s our intention. Or in that case culturally ignorant.
It kind of reminds me of when I lived in Santa Cruz, California… downtown was the Pacific Garden Mall. While you used to be able to drive down the main street through it, we usually parked on the backside of the “mall” and walked through tunnel-like walkways to get “inside.” There were always musicians playing in the tunnels and the echoing sounds were so incredibly beautiful!
Hardly anybody stopped to listen but I know they enjoyed it as they passed by. After all, if too many people stopped, no one would be able to get through.
Anyway, I saw the video about Joshua Bell in the subway stop on YouTube some time ago. In case anyone is interested, the link is
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnOPu0_YWhw
Perhaps it is more a commentary on New York City and classical music. When we were in New Orleans, people would gather around the street musicians. There was one fellow that played his saxophone so sweetly, it made me cry. And we tipped them all. If Garth Brooks popped out his guitar on the new boardwalk in Myrtle Beach, I betcha folks would stop. It is all pretty subjective. That being said, I totally agree that we should all appreciate beauty more. Bobbye is dead on when she says that we are totally disconnected from nature. (I have stories to tell on that theme that are off the track of this thread!)
[...] What Are You Missing? Day #11 [...]
I’d be willing to bet the one person who stood and listened was a visitor to NYC. When we were there in 2006, I was amazed at the talented musicians and entertainers in Battery Park. My daughter and son-in-law couldn’t believe it and said I was handing out $1 bills like a sailor surrounded by pole-dancers. Whatever! I was just so full of joy I couldn’t help myself.
Allow me to add another layer to this conversation, Jeanne.
I don’t believe we miss much of anything until it’s no longer around or we don’t have it anymore.
In other words, we’re missing out because we simply take for granted that which is ever present in our lives.
If all the beautifully fragrant gardenias in the world were to suddenly vanish …
We would mourn the loss and we would miss them.
Magnificent post!
Melanie
#blog30
Thank you for the story, it helps to remind us of how much we are on autopilot in our routine every day lives without slowing down to observe the beauty around us. So if you slow down a bit, take a look around, you may notice something beautiful about your day even if you feel bad at that particular moment.
Jeanne, you are quite right that your thoughts in this post greatly parallel those in my post this morning!
In this specific case, beyond the wonderfully well-expressed considerations of you and your previous commenters, there are simple structural issues with the example of Joshua Bell and his DC subway-station microconcert.
We connote too much when we believe that the great majority did not notice his performance. Perhaps they didn’t, but other more-plausible explanations exist. In the case of the subway station, it seems likely that people had connections to make in their travels at that moment which may have prohibited even a brief stop to listen. As well, the noise level in the area may have made it difficult to hear well enough to entice a pause for those who could afford to.
In the stories we construct, we see what we decide to see, even when the story is about a tale on what we decide to see! I guess that would make this a mega-story, being a story about stories.
Not to get too carried away on my sidetrack, as you know I agree with the major point, that being we may be missing much by wandering while within our framework instead of being open to stimulation from our environment in the moment.
I like to think I would have stopped. I’m a “pull over!! We need to stare in awe at that rainbow!!” guy. I drag my wife out of the house when I discover an amazing moonrise while I’m taking out the trash. But, if I was late for my connecting train or for a meeting, I may not have stopped!
Guilty as charged
I often have to remind myself to simply slow down and enjoy the smile of one of my grandchildren,
or to actually LISTEN to the person talking to me rather than composing my response.
The sad part is that our busyness often doesn’t usually make us less-busy later.
We tell ourselves that we’ll focus now so that we can enjoy life more carefree later, yet
so few of us ever get around to later.
Tanks for the reminder Jeanne.
Willie
Willie, thanks for stopping by and reading. Sometimes I read my stories again just to give myself reminders!