the sky i wish to share with you, but you keep looking down

What is this life if, full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare.


- from "Leisure," by W.H. Davies


What would you do if you chanced upon the greatest violinist in the world, holding a violin handcrafted in 1713 worth 3.5 million US dollars, as he played 6 of the greatest classical tunes of all time, at the walkway at the Orchard MRT Station, and you were on your way to work or school?


I'm not quite so hopeful for us Singaporeans stopping.


Well, this was the experiment they carried out in Washington.


The violinist? Joshua Bell, who 3 days before had filled the house at Boston's stately Symphony Hall, where merely pretty good seats went for $100.


"In the three-quarters of an hour that Joshua Bell played, seven people stopped what they were doing to hang around and take in the performance, at least for a minute. Twenty-seven gave money, most of them on the run -- for a total of $32 and change. That leaves the 1,070 people who hurried by, oblivious, many only three feet away, few even turning to look.


If we can't take the time out of our lives to stay a moment and listen to one of the best musicians on Earth play some of the best music ever written; if the surge of modern life so overpowers us that we are deaf and blind to something like that -- then what else are we missing?


Here's the full 7000+ word article that I read and cried aloud after.


Yes, I'm supposed to be doing my work now.


But I will stop for something worth stopping for.