Perception

Elemental23 — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 18:31:54 +0000

Here’s a story from the web that a friend sent to me:

Washington,
DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007. The man with a
violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time
approx. 2 thousand people went through the station, most of them on
their way to work. After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed there was
a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds
and then hurried to meet his schedule.

4 minutes later:

The violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.

6 minutes:

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

10 minutes:

A 3-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 all the time. This
action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without
exception, forced their children to move on quickly.

45 minutes:

The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a
short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal
pace. The man collected a total of $32.

1 hour:

He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

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.

This is a true story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was
organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about
perception, taste and people’s priorities. The questions raised: in a
common place environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive
beauty? 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?

All is perception. Each one of us only knows the world though our experience and how our internal paradigms filter and shape those experiences for us, usually without our notice . We do have control of how and what we pay attention to. That is one of the defining potentialities of consciousness.

The willingness of each person to pay careful attention is governed not only by values and what we love, but also our fears and anxieties. Becoming obsessed with fears and anxieties is clearly unhealthy. Very often it’s those those things we fear we must pay attention to that end up consuming our waking energy, despite what our soul says we need or love. When speaking about experience in this manner it’s easy to see that there are other choices.

This consumer society seeks to control our attention. That we must frenetically consume pursue the means to continue and expand that consumption is a model of reality the consumer culture needs to perpetuate, to the point of addiction and obsession.

Consumer culture is about that which can be packaged and repeated in nearly exactly the same manner again and again and again. There’s a utilitarian need for eliminating that messy singularity. Truly unique ideas and experiences are difficult to sell en masse. That’s why all the McDonalds, Village Inns, Walmarts strip malls, TV commercials, hit songs tend to be the same from a general perspective.

You can’t package spirit. That tiny, brightest glimmer we experience in a very personal manner. It’s about expression and that one unique unrepeatable experience.

Do we now actually believe that everything worthwhile can be packaged and that all else does not exist or is irrelevant? Will we let the modern consumer culture be the lens through which we see reality and determine who we are?

We all need to take the time to be affected by beauty and let each experience sing it’s own unique song to us. One unique experience. Take it in. Make it part of what you are. Let the experience open those doors that are rusted shut. Stop for one minute and truly see and feel that moment. It’s happening all of the time. We should give our conscious mindfulness to the things that truly matter and what we consciously choose to pay attention to. I for one want the things that truly enrich my life and deepen my connection to it. I don’t want the things that distract me from the deeper and more fulfilling aspect of every day life experience. Sometimes it isn’t easy and I’m distracted by the mundane once again, but vigilance regarding the information onslaught will help me win out.

Silence Between the Notes

Perception