#32 - 13 February 2009 - "A Violinist in the Metro"

I received this piece, this story (below), from a dear friend some months ago ("M.O'D") and filed it under "Aspirations and Expectations", a thoughtful folder on my brain-of-a-desktop PC. I had been struggling at the keyboard "waiting for inspiration" with dozens of thoughts running through my head about cooking, cooks, chefs, food & wine, the students and alumni that I am here to inspire and the faculty that I am here to represent.... It is a dreary, albeit thankfully, rainy day in Sonoma Valley. My drive to Napa Valley over the serpentine and narrow Calistoga Road begins in an hour - and I feel the obligitory tug of my blog promise, that; "to write every day of my experience at The French Laundry". So, here is my stream of conscious thought today, the day after the 200th Anniversary of the birth, in a log cabin in Kentucky, of A. Lincoln, a wise and thoughtful man who may or may-not have inspired me today... It is not directly related to any of the above mentioned thought, yet is deep in thought itself...

A Violinist in the Metro.

A man sat at a metro station in Washington D.C. 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 a 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 pulled him along, hurried, but the child 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. Joshua Bell, playing incognito in the metro station, was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception and priorities of people. The outlines were: In a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

I've found talent in places I had not thought to look, I've forced nyself to stop in the rush of necessity to appreciate the little things (like Micro-Hyacinths and sheer-sliced Toyko Turnips) and I've come to know that all there is so so much more than all I know. Thus, I have become a contributing member of the staff at The French Laundry; not because of who I am, what I have been, or what I know. I have finally given myself totally to the experience and have stopped to smell the roses, hear the music and give thanks for all that I have and all that may be.

One last parting thought for the day - "What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail". - Dr. Robert H. Shuller

Peace.

~R