There is an email travelling around cyberspace again that tells the story of how a world renowned violinist once played some of the most beautiful (and challenging) classical music ever composed on a priceless, nearly 300 year old Stradivari violin for nearly an hour and was virtually unnoticed by the 1,100 people who heard him.

 

The thing is, this performance wasn’t for a nattily dressed, captive audience paying hundreds of dollars a ticket in an acoustical gem of a concert hall … the young musician played wearing jeans, t-shirt and a baseball cap, near a newsstand in a busy subway station in Washington, D.C.

 

It was a stunt put together in 2007 by the Washington Post (oh, those jokers – too many slow news days in America, I suppose) as an informal study about beauty and perception.  Since then, boatloads of articles and commentaries have been written discussing the deeper meanings of human beings and their ability to truly recognize and pay tribute to that which is beautiful.  People quote from philosophical works and say that perhaps in order to truly appreciate beauty the conditions must be optimal.  Emails, blogs and discussions go round and round about how people rushing to catch a train for work, school or home don’t have time to stop and acknowledge something as amazing as the impromptu performance of one of the greatest violinists alive today.  Whether your foot is firmly in the camp of those who understand how busy minds and bodies can’t catch a breath to value magnificence on the fly or if you’re of the mindset that we’ve all lost the ability to absorb anyone or anything of quality – it’s still an interesting question to ponder.

 

For me, taking time to soak up anything that isn’t fundamental to the process of getting through a day is difficult.  Finding a few minutes to bask in the glow of fine art, music or food is a luxury I don’t always have (darn it).  In fact, one of my favorite phrases is “Sometimes life has a way of getting in the way of living” and indeed it does, when bills need to be paid, laundry needs to get done and children have to be fed.  Those are just the top three things on my list and there are a hundred others that make up a day, a week, a lifetime that don’t all make it to my To Do List, but they still need to get done (hug the kids, cry with the neighbor, help with homework, and more).

 

Time has always had a way of vexing man, long before the arrival of the industrial and electronic ages, and there have never been enough hours in a day to do all that needs to be done.  Now, we have the added pressure of the email inbox delivering reminders that we should feel guilty about our kind not taking a moment to recognize the tremendous value of unexpected, priceless nuggets thrown in our path.

 

I am sorry to admit that I might be one of those boneheaded busy people not giving the likes of Joshua Bell his due on a busy weekday morning or one who wouldn’t appreciate the true value of an unframed Ellsworth Kelly masterpiece if it were hung in a donut shop instead of a museum.  However, I do make an effort to be grateful for the wonderful things placed in my path on a daily basis.  If a newborn baby cries in a grocery store I still smile at the miracle of birth and imagine the possibilities of who that child might grow up to be.  Local firetrucks or police cars race down our boulevard and I am in awe of the men and women who willingly put on the uniform of a superhero to risk life and limb for others and I tell my kids to go up and say, “Thank you” whenever we see them around town.

 

While I wish we all had the chance to slow down to stop and smell the roses, see the art or hear the music and express our gratitude, I wonder if perhaps, its best that we pace ourselves and allow the bits of beauty that already surround us to seep in first.  That way, when more meaningful occasions present themselves we’ll be ready with an accepting attitude and better at expressing gratitude.  It might be a good idea to keep a dollar bill or two handy, while you’re at it, to toss in the case of the next wandering minstrel you see – let him know how much you value the gift of his performance, no matter who he might be.