Thursday, April 12, 2007

Where have all the souls gone?

Mike just highlighted this article in the Washington Post about a social experiment that astounds me. A virtuoso on a Stradivarius plays for 45 minutes in a subway station and only one person stops to listen for a couple of minutes. He only makes $32 - and over 1000 people walk by listening to their ipods and cell phones instead of enjoying this beauty.

I'd like to think I would have stopped. That I would have plopped myself down on the floor, leaned against the wall and absorbed it into my soul. Replenished the dry places and refilled the cracks.

What have we become?

Read the article yourself here and see the video of those 1000 people just walking by:

Washington Post - Pearls before Breakfast

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

My goodness! People are missing out. I remember, oh, 16 years ago, my husband & I had just gotten engaged while stuck in Paris (I know that sounds strange, but that's what we were). We were trying to get from point A to point B via Metro and at one point came upon these classical (maybe about 3 ) musicians playing Canon. Perhaps it was the was the sound echoed off the subway walls, but it was completely mesmerizing and magical. One of the truly "beautiful" moments in my life- but very difficult to describe. Better than a u2 concert if I may be so bold!