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Do We See Beauty?

Personalized support for learning how to integrate mindfulness into your life. Delivered fresh everyday by our world renowned experts. Choose meditation duration:

Hi, and welcome to your Daily Mindfulness. Today, I'm going to talk about hidden beauty. So on a cold January morning in 2007, a man with a violin played in a Metro station in Washington. As he played several Bach pieces, about 2000 people walked by him. Most of them on their way to work.

Now, after about four minutes of him playing, a middle-aged man slowed down a little bit and watched, then he hurried onto work. A few minutes later, a young woman threw money in the violinist's hat without stopping. She continued on. Shortly after a man leaned against the wall to listen for a few seconds then looked at his watch and walked on. After he was playing for about 10 minutes, a little boy stopped, tugged his mother towards the music but she pulled him onwards.

And as she pulled him away, the little boy turned back and kept looking at the violinist as long as he possibly could until he was out of sight. The same behavior was repeated by several other children, but every parent pulled their child onwards to where they were going. After an hour of playing six Bach symphony pieces, only six people had briefly stopped to watch this violinist. The violinist had $32 when he finished. No one uplauded.

There was no recognition at all. Everyone kept walking as he packed up. The violinist that day in the Metro was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most complex and renowned pieces of classical music ever written with a violin with $3.5 million. Two days before being in the Metro station, Joshua played to a sold out theater where each seat costs a minimum of a hundred dollars for each person to watch him play the exact same music.

This story raises some questions about our everyday perception. Do we recognize the beautiful things that are all around us? If so, do we actually stop to enjoy and appreciate them. If most of us don't have a moment to stop and recognize such a gift as this music in the Metro station, I wondered to myself, how many other things are we missing out when we rush through our daily lives? So today, my invitation to all of us is a really simple one. It's just, as we go about our day, let's try to notice the hidden beauties all around us. The sweetness of a smile or a hug, the sunlight on our skin, the breeze, a starlit sky, and even just the miracle that we're alive at all.

So as always, thank you for your practice and your presence here. And let's settle in for today's meditation.

Melli O'Brien

4.8

Do We See Beauty?

Personalized support for learning how to integrate mindfulness into your life. Delivered fresh everyday by our world renowned experts. Choose meditation duration:

Duration

Your default time is based on your progress and is changed automatically as you practice.

Hi, and welcome to your Daily Mindfulness. Today, I'm going to talk about hidden beauty. So on a cold January morning in 2007, a man with a violin played in a Metro station in Washington. As he played several Bach pieces, about 2000 people walked by him. Most of them on their way to work.

Now, after about four minutes of him playing, a middle-aged man slowed down a little bit and watched, then he hurried onto work. A few minutes later, a young woman threw money in the violinist's hat without stopping. She continued on. Shortly after a man leaned against the wall to listen for a few seconds then looked at his watch and walked on. After he was playing for about 10 minutes, a little boy stopped, tugged his mother towards the music but she pulled him onwards.

And as she pulled him away, the little boy turned back and kept looking at the violinist as long as he possibly could until he was out of sight. The same behavior was repeated by several other children, but every parent pulled their child onwards to where they were going. After an hour of playing six Bach symphony pieces, only six people had briefly stopped to watch this violinist. The violinist had $32 when he finished. No one uplauded.

There was no recognition at all. Everyone kept walking as he packed up. The violinist that day in the Metro was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most complex and renowned pieces of classical music ever written with a violin with $3.5 million. Two days before being in the Metro station, Joshua played to a sold out theater where each seat costs a minimum of a hundred dollars for each person to watch him play the exact same music.

This story raises some questions about our everyday perception. Do we recognize the beautiful things that are all around us? If so, do we actually stop to enjoy and appreciate them. If most of us don't have a moment to stop and recognize such a gift as this music in the Metro station, I wondered to myself, how many other things are we missing out when we rush through our daily lives? So today, my invitation to all of us is a really simple one. It's just, as we go about our day, let's try to notice the hidden beauties all around us. The sweetness of a smile or a hug, the sunlight on our skin, the breeze, a starlit sky, and even just the miracle that we're alive at all.

So as always, thank you for your practice and your presence here. And let's settle in for today's meditation.

Melli O'Brien

Melli O'Brien

4.8

Duration

Melli O'Brien

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