醒心／省心

2007年1月，美國首都華盛頓一個地鐵站內，一名男子用小提琴演奏了45分鐘Bach的作品。這段時間大約有二千名市民經過車站，大部份都是上班途中。

演奏四分鐘後，一名中年男士留意到這位音樂家的演奏。他慢下來，停了幾秒，然後急忙趕往他的目的地。

四分鐘後，小提琴手賺到了他第一元美金。一名女子停也不停地把硬幣拋進他帽子。
⋯⋯
六分鐘後，一位年輕人靠在牆邊聽他彈奏，看看手錶後又離去。

十分鐘後，一位三歲男孩停了下來，他母親卻催他離開。男孩再次望向小提琴手，但母親無情地推著他，男孩只好一邊走一邊回望。幾位其他的小孩也如男孩般感到好奇，但每一位家長都催促孩子向前走，無一例外。

四十五分鐘過去了，音樂家從未間斷地表演。期間只有六人稍稍停下來聽了一會。大約有二十人放下了金錢，但依著本來的步速離開。這位男子最後共賺得32美元。

一小時後，他的演奏結束，車站恢復原狀。他離開時沒有得到任何注意、沒有任何掌聲、任何鼓勵。

沒有人知道這件事，但小提琴手原來是世界級著名演奏家Joshua Bell。他那天用一部價值350萬美元的小提琴彈奏了世上最複雜的作品之一。兩天前，他在一個演奏廳裡以平均票價100美元的入場費演奏了45分鐘完全相同的樂章。

這是真人真事。Joshua Bell匿名地在地鐵站裡拉奏，是為了Washington Post籌劃的一個關於品味與價值觀的社會實驗。

這項實驗引申了幾個問題：

在普通的日常生活當中，在不合時宜的狀況下，我們能感受到「美」嗎？

如果是，我們會停下來欣賞嗎？

在未預期的情況下，我們是否仍然能注意到才華的展現？

即使是世界上最棒的音樂家搭配最好的樂器演奏，如果沒有一顆靜下來的心，沒能察覺每一片刻發生在週遭當下世界的美，仍然只會是一個平凡無奇的表演。

在忙碌的生活中，我們到底還錯過了些什麼？

看完這篇文章，你是否也會像地鐵裡的路人，睡個覺甚至下一個片刻之後又將所有焦點放在自己的心思？活在那被心智頭腦思想所侷限的小小世界裡而看不到這個世界、整個大自然、甚至只是這個當下片刻所發生的許多美好事物。

‎"In Washington DC , at a Metro Station, on a cold January morning in 2007, a man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, approximately 2000 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

After about four minutes, a middle-aged man noticed that there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds, and then he hurried on to meet his schedule.

About four minutes later, the violinist received his first dollar. A woman threw money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.

At six minutes, a young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

At ten minutes, a three-year old boy stopped, but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head the whole time. This action was repeated by several other children, but every parent - without exception - forced their children to move on quickly.

At forty-five minutes: The musician played continuously. Only six people stopped and listened for a short while. About twenty gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.

After one hour:
He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed and no one applauded. There was no recognition at all.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest 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, Joshua Bell sold-out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100 each to sit and listen to him play the same music.

This is a true story. Joshua Bell, playing incognito in the D.C. Metro Station, was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people’s priorities.

This experiment raised several questions:

In a common-place environment, at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?

If so, do we stop to appreciate it?

Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this:
If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made…
 

How many other things are we missing as we rush through life?"