On January 12, 2007, a young man entered the Washington DC metro station dressed in jeans, a gray t-shirt, and a baseball cap. He tucked a violin under his chin and proceeded to play 6 classical pieces that lasted 43 minutes. Over 1.000 commuters passed him, 7 stopped to listen, and 27 people tossed money in his open violin case.

This musician happened to be the renowned virtuoso Joshua Bell who was playing on his $3.5 million Stradivarius violin. This was an experiment planned out by The Washington Post Magazine. They wanted to know if in a subway setting and an inconvenient time, would people be “transcended” by the beauty of this amazing artist.

Many insights came from the experiment but only one grabbed me. There was no ethnic or demographic pattern of who stopped except one: “Every single time a child walked past, he or she tried to stop and watch. And every single time, a parent scooted the child away.” All I can say is, “Wow!” How sad is that? Each child was amazingly present. Can we change and become like little children? I would argue yes, but only if we are intentional. If only we could see things through the eyes of a child…

With Gratitude,
Beth