Hurried

I love this story.  It reminds me that amazing things can be found in unlikely places.  That fame doesn't equal talent.  That rushing means I might miss something.  It reminds me of the simple joys of life waiting around each corner if I take the time to look, listen, and enjoy.  It also asks me the question:  is art real, or purely an existence of public opinion?

So, here's the story - a street performer played some very complex songs in a Washington DC metro station and fortunately was within range of the metro camera, so the reactions were caught on film as well.  He played Bach for about 45 minutes and thousands of people walked within feet of the performance without so much as a glance.  The first person to have any semblence of the ability to hear didn't occur until over 3 minutes had passed when a middle-aged man slowed down... stopped for a few seconds... then scurried off.  A woman slung a buck into his open violin case as she continued past... without stopping.  A man slowed enough to lean on a wall before noticing the time and moving along.

Then a 3 year old boy in tow by his mother spotted talent.  He couldn't peel his eyes of the violinist.  The woman pushed and pulled him along as he continued glancing back, entranced with what he heard.  And he wasn't alone - this action was followed by several other children, and several other parents.  Adults that didn't have the time to enjoy quality because they were too busy with their versions of "life".  Children with no agendas and the fresh outlook of a life ahead noticed the art in front of them and couldn't look away - had to be forced away.

In 45 minutes, 7 people stopped and stayed for awhile.  27 gave some amount of money for a total of $32.  1,070 people went by in a hurry without stopping, without noticing, without enjoying, without caring.  One thousand and seventy.  Watch the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnOPu0_YWhw

At the end of the 45 minutes, the musician stopped.  Noone noticed.  There was no applause or other recognition - the music just stopped and the subway continued.  No one knew, but this particular street musician this particular day was Joshua Bell.  This particular violin on this particular day was a $3.5 million Stradivari from the early 1700's - the 1710 era Strad's are widely considered the absolute best violins ever crafted and never duplicated (ever see the Red Violin?).  Joshua Bell is a world famous violinist who, at 4 years of age, put rubber bands on his dresser and moved the drawers in an out as he plucked the strings and played - by ear - classical music - yes, at 4 years old.  He is a master at his craft and uses the best instrument possible to showcase his talent - and he did this all without fanfare in a subway in Washington DC.

There are so many commentaries that spill out of a real world example like this but the one I want to key in on is how we can find our real lives back again without always being in a rush to get somewhere scheduled that will supposedly fulfil our life by planned fun.  How do we strip back technology, business, worry, etc and just find life in unlikely places - or not even "find" it, per se, but be open to seeing it when we walk 4 feet away.

Read the entire Washington Post article - it's actually really good:  www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html