Slow Down and Enjoy!

One of many interviews from Jennifer Garner that I remember the most was when she said that her eldest daughter, Violet, had taught her to slow down and appreciate things.

She then proceeded by saying this, “Once, when she was 6-months-old, I was nursing her and kind of in a hurry. I was impatient, and she was really taking her time, just staring at the ceiling. So I looked up, and the way the light was playing on the ceiling was so beautiful. I wouldn’t have noticed that on my own.”

Today, I read a note posted – and later an article and a youtube video - by one of my friends on Facebook about the same thing.



Normally, I wouldn’t read random notes – I don’t have time for it - but the title was “Violinist Plays at Metro Station”, so I was instantly intrigued… Because you know I’m currently into violin and all.

The notes was about this violinist who played in a Metro Station, Washington, D.C., at its rush hour. He played 6 classical pieces by Bach, one of the greatest music ever written in the history of human being, for 45 minutes. It was a very elaborate and difficult songs to play, not everybody could play it well.

But no one was really paying attention to him.

Few people stopped to watch and listen, but then they continued to walk away because they were running late. Children were the ones who really gave him their full attention but soon enough they were dragged away by their mothers.

Of more than a thousand passers-by that morning, there were only a handful of lucky people who stopped and heard the music.

Why lucky, you ask? That’s because little did these people knew, the violinist was actually Joshua Bell, a music prodigy. And the violin he played was a 300 years old Stradivari, worth $3.5 millions. Three nights before, Bell played in Boston Symphony’s Hall and the $100 seats were all sold out.

He did this little stunt as a favor to Washington Post in their study about human’s perception and priorities, especially those who’re living in a busy city like D.C.

My friend’s notes ended with some awakening questions: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?

I would like to add few more as well: If children could appreciate anything, from little to big things, why couldn’t we? Weren’t we children at some point in our lives, when did we loose it? Does life really chase you down that you can’t even walk side by side with it?

But the question that concludes it all is: Do we miss out the best things in life, like one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, just because we couldn’t be bothered to stop or even just to slow down and appreciate it?