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Thursday, April 12, 2007

Would you stop for beauty?

How much are we missing every day? The sunset? The child skipping down the street? The poem we don't have time to read? The way the petals on the lily curl at the edges? The music wafting out of a subway station? The intricate arc at the top of the building we pass every day?

I was intriqued by this article and accompanying videos. (If it doesn't load properly, keep trying.) A world class musician plays in a busy subway station, and almost nobody notices. Too much work to do. Too many deadlines. Too many meetings to attend. Too many bosses breathing down their necks.

Would you have stopped?

Updated to add: So, I'm sitting here thinking about beauty and art and - on a whim - I typed the following into my browser: www.beauty.com. Oh, this is too rich. You have to look. What do YOU think the wise ol' internet thinks beauty is? I think that's one of those words that has lost its power. (What was that quote from C.S. Lewis again, ccap?)

Perhaps if some of the people who are visiting beauty.com spent a little less of their time looking in the mirror for beauty, they'd have a little more time on their hands to stop when it's right there in front of them in the subway station.

8 comments:

Cuppa said...

I would like to think so.

mmichele said...

i would have. i know without a shadow of a doubt.

Anonymous said...

I'd like to think I would but who knows what else would have been on my mind, or what I would have been on my way to do - late for the kids, I would have wanted to stop, but not had time ...etc. It's still an interesting experiment.

Anonymous said...

I can definitely say I would have heard the music and appreciated it - but would I have stopped? I don't know. Depends on a lot of factors (late for work? being one of them).

And - no, I wouldn't have looked at the musician. This has nothing to do with me being oblivious - but a total social fear thing. (I get nervous looking at street musicians. I don't know why - always have. I think that making eye contact means I might have to talk to them - and I DON'T like talking to strangers in public places)

So - when watching that video of all those people "ignoring" the musician, I thought - "maybe they are hearing it - just choosing not to look like I would"

Liz said...

That was a big story around here, obviously, and I didn't read the article you linked to, but I remember about a year ago watching a story on the DC news that DC was thinking about making it legal for local musicians to play at Metro stops. Probably most people are used to seeing musicians and didn't think anything of it. I know I wouldn't have recognized that guy as a famous musician. I probably wouldn't have stopped, but I never go on Metro so who knows?

joyce said...

"an experiment in context, perception and priorities"
Isn't that true? Isn't that's whats wrong with our society, our context, perceptions, and priorities are always getting screwed around?

Lucia said...

When I hear about that musician, I knew that I too would have walked by. Sad, isn't it? Thanks for this post, I'm sure to see beauty today that I might have missed just be being present and noticing.

Gina said...

I would like to think so as well, as I love music. But, if I had a four year old in tow and we would most likely be running late for something, maybe not.