Thursday, April 12, 2007

Time to stand and stare

Experiencing the beauty of the moment is natural to a child. One of a child's greatest gifts to the parents is learning how to observe beauty in the world through the child's eyes. When I moved from the city to the country, in a wooded canyon, I prayed that I would never ignore the setting. My prayer was answered, even more now that I'm not involved in a high-stress career.

That leads me to this incredible story. "Joshua Bell is one of the world's greatest violinists. His instrument of choice is a multimillion-dollar Stradivarius. If he played it for spare change, incognito, outside a bustling Metro stop in Washington, would anyone notice?"

What is this life if, full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare.

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


Thank to Lucy for pointing me to the story.

3 comments:

Chris Kreussling (Flatbush Gardener) said...

I've been carrying my camera with me all the time the past several weeks. I find that I see things differently, I see things I would otherwise overlook, with my photographer's eyes.

The eyes of a child.

Kylee Baumle said...

Incredible. Our daughter used a recording of Bell for her pre-wedding music.

Davies has it right. We are living life at much too fast a pace. This is what I love about gardening as a hobby. You just can't do it fast, or it's no fun. I have some of my best moments when I'm pulling weeds.

Carol Michel said...

Thanks for the link, that was a great article. Reminds us all to pay more attention and be open to seeing what is really going on around us.