The urban myth went something like this:
“A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousands of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.
Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule.
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. Clearly he was late for work.
The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried, but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. 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 6 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 and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.
No one knew this but 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 dollars.
Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston. The seat price average was $100.” Urban Legends
Many have disregarded this story as an urban myth. In fact, it is a true story. The Washington Post set up this scene as part of a social experiment to find out if people perceive beauty when it is presented in an unexpected context. And if they do recognise it, do they stop to appreciate it? In other words, do we stop to smell the roses?
I don’t know about you, but I think the premise behind this experiment limits the definition of what is beautiful and worthy of mindful appreciation.
There is no doubt that concert violinist Joshua Bell is a legend… urban or otherwise. His ability to evoke the full range of emotional responses using only a violin and a bow is extraordinary. But if I had been in the Metro with my four children on the day that he was playing, the truth is I would probably have done nothing more than throw a wistful gaze his way … possibly some coins as well … and then walked on. And my children are likely to have responded in much the same way.
At that moment in time, it’s likely that my 4-year-old son held a greater appreciation for the beauty in the rhythmic sound of the train as it departed the station, because anything railway related makes his heart sing. I may have appreciated the beauty of that all-too-brief sound of silence that followed my travel weary, crying toddler finally falling asleep in the sling. My daughter may have appreciated the beautiful words of a stranger admiring her dress, because she had been anxious about what to wear that day. Our appreciation of beauty can be contextual and individual. And that’s ok. As long as we see beauty in something. Anything.
“Everything has its beauty, but not everyone sees it” Confucius
Maybe it’s not that we don’t stop to appreciate beauty, but that we continue to let other people define what beauty is.
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Today I’m linking up with the flippin’ awesome Jess from Diary of a SAHM, because she makes everyone else feel like they’re flippin’ awesome.
And in my intro to Love New Blogs this week I’ve discovered the controversy corner. Intrigued?
so well put, even the best buskers are given money and them we move on after a few minutes. I wonder if any of those people who paid $100 would have instantly recognized what they were hearing?
ciao lisa
Good point Lisa! I hadn’t thought of it that way!
That is a great perspective. I recently re-read that story, and have often wondered if I would have stopped. Probably not. I would have been rushing, trying to concentrate on which train platform to be at and dragging my 4 children with me as well. They say that beauty is in the eye (or in this case ‘ear’) of the beholder – and this case it definitely would have been contextual. But, I believe that there is beauty in everything if we look hard enough.
I agree. Sometimes you just have to catch that train! It doesn’t mean you don’t appreciate beauty at all.
I have not heard this before but I love everything about it. Generally as a rule the girls and i stop to listen to buskers. I am often in awe of their courage to publicly perform like that regardless of their actual ability.
I like to think that beauty is everywhere it just needs to be looked for and found
Buskers must be very brave indeed. Not sure that I could do it but I admire those who can put themselves out there like that!
I don’t think I would have stopped before unless lufflump wanted to. It’s a good reminder to stop and listen/smell the roses. That being said, I doubt I would appreciate it as much as I should.
It’s hard when you have kids in tow… or a train to catch… or a thousand things on your to-do list. Life is too hectic sometimes!
Very valid point! I hadn’t read that story before, awesome insight
This story first circulated in 2008 and after I published this post, I noticed that it is circulating again. Bizarre!
Oh that is a beautiful and timely reminder to appreciate things.
Do you think though, that it’s context? If you were there with your four kids, you would be worried about trying to not lose any dn get on the train at the time, so it would be hard to stop and appreciate the music. At another time, you may have though. I think it’s hard because our lies are so busy, and we need to do stuff. I guess the moral is if you don’t have time in the subway, then make the time later (and go to the concert!)
Oh I absolutely agree Jess. I think that from a practical perspective, with 4 kids in tow, it would be very difficult to stop. It doesn’t mean that you wouldn’t appreciate it though. I would love to go to one of his concerts!
I loved this story and I definitely agree about questioning what defines beauty – it changes for me all the time as I get older.
We definitely get wiser as we get older… a nice fringe benefit.
That’s a different way to look at things, Misha! When I saw this story, I too thought that if I were in that train station with my three kids there is NO WAY we would be stopping with all those people rushing by! That would be so dangerous – I’d lose a kid, run after them, lose sight of my pram and the next thing you know someone’s kidnapped my twins! Nup, sorry special violinist man, I would not stop for you in that context at all!
Kid wrangling is a challenge at the best of times but in a crowded subway… agghhh! I bet you are especially grateful for your twin pram in situations like that! xo
I actually saw this video on youtube the other week and was so surprised how no one stopped to listen, probably thinking the typical stereotype of someone busking. It truly is amazing how we can judge so quickly.
I think pre-concieved judgement has a lot to do with it too Tahlia!
What a great story. Sadly, I think I would have kept going too… Especially with 3 kids in tow, a deadline (e.g. a train coming), and the element of surprise/ unplanned encounter… a bit sad really.
I think the element of surprise/ inconvenient context is very significant here… from reading your blogs I get a feeling that you are good at appreciating what really matters.
I too am guilty of not noticing some of the most wonderful things because I am too busy doing whatever it is I am doing. This story / experiment is a great reminder to stop and look around once in a while. Xx
True. It doesn’t hurt to be reminded of that.
Yup, I wouldn’t have stopped. I used to have to busk when I was a teen as part of fund raising for school band and I HATED it. Which you would think would give me a greater appreciation for buskers, but instead just makes me cringe with horrible memories of public humiliation, and while I always give them money, I never stop for longer than a few seconds.
Wow you’ve busked before! That’s amazing! I’m not sure I would be brave enough, especially at such a young age!
I often stop but their context is weighted against us because people generally DON’T have time to stand and stare because they are working to the train timetable. It would be easier if I’d just got off the train though. Perhaps if the purpose was to see if we can recognise beauty out of context eg somewhere busy, thet could have conducted the experiment on a busy shopping street somewhere.
Absolutely. I completely agree. If they set up the experiment in a different way, without the inherent time pressure, I wonder if the result would have been the same?
Thank you for sharing this story. Loved it! For sure today, I am going to look at things differently and hopefully it would last tommorrow as well:-) Me & The Girls
Thank you for your lovely comments!
Loving the new look blog. Great post. Fascinating isnt it – a little like the bystander effect of walking past when someone is obviously in distress – that what we experience and how we experience it is so context dependent. Maybe I still have an illustrious career as a singer ahead of me – I’ll just rock up to the underground and sing – no one will notice how discordant I am!
I always find the bystander effect fascinating and a little disconcerting. You’re right, it’s probably the same principle at play. Maybe you SHOULD rock up to the underground and belt out a tune one day… that would make for an interesting blog post indeed
Wow great story, some days I’d like to give money but I always need it for parking :/
The cost of parking is outrageous isn’t it! Kind of defeats the purpose of saving money by using public transport.
Great story Misha. I think that it was somewhat arrogant on the Washington Post to do this experiment. It was was based on the hypothesis that people would be too busy (or ignorant) to appreciate beauty. And aren’t they clever, they got it right!
You are so right to point out that that was based on their definition of beauty, not necessarily everyones. I wrote a while back that beauty is about people’s intentions, not necessarily something we look at, and perhaps their intention to trip people up got them this time.
I love the thought of beauty being about other people’s intentions. I will go and have a look at your blog post now. Thank you for your thoughtful comments.
Fantastic post- I’ve seen it posted and reposted all over facebook all week now and to be honest it’s been driving me crazy. Because to me, a violin sounds like nails on a chalkboard. So no, I wouldn’t stop and take in the ‘perceived’ beauty of the music because to me, it’s just *not* beautiful.
Taste in music is such an individual thing and it doesn’t seem right to say that those who don’t appreciate a particular style don’t appreciate beauty altogether. Great point Tam!
I love this Misha. I love the urban legend but more importantly I love your take on peoples perceptions of beauty. It is important to stop and smell the roses and see the beauty, but we must also keep in mind that what is beauty for one may not be so for another. An interesting experiment too though in terms of putting things in a different context or environment. It is like when you see a dress or item of clothing and you automatially think it must be really expensive. When you later find out that it is really from an inexpensie chain store, can this sometimes change your initial perceptions of its beauty?