Pull up a chair.

Thanks Ali for pointing this out. It was an absolute treasure to read. I'm still processing it.

Wow! Today, you were that one person to me that said, "HEY, STOP AND LOOK LOOK LOOK!" It is amazing how society/culture has trained us to be one for ourselves. One more reason for us to all stop and enjoy what is happening right in front of our faces. It was sad to me also that the children were wanting to stop, and the parents just shuffled them on. I hope that the next time I see something extraordinary, that I stop and take it in instead of being one of the crowd. Simply amazing. Thanks Ali!

i just went back & read the previous comments (i always write my comment first as not to be influenced by other commenters (yes i am that easily influenced:)...& of course i think it is sad that people didn't even look or notice most of the time, i also think that there is beauty everywhere...different people see it in different places...i'm not saying that people shouldn't slow down because of course they should, but beauty is different to different people just because some people didn't see it (or hear it) there doesn't mean they don't take time to see it other places...that is what is so exciting about the world...we are all different & beauty is all around us...i love that even though this experiment was disheartening to some, it is so encouraging to others...i mean to say, think of how many people who have read this article will be on the look out for beauty in their every day routine...that is cool...or we could all just follow the kids of the world around because as the article showed they recognize beauty no matter when or where...thanks again...loved it!

I am changed. Thank you.

I will never be the same. I am changed. Thank you.

Thank you for posting this. What an experiment - and the article is phenomenally written. I want to be the kind of person who stops, even for three minutes. But I bet I am not yet.

Wow! I'd heard about this, but hadn't read the article or seen the video. This is an amazing story. Makes you think.
Thanks for sharing, Ali!

We are always in a rush. It's moments like that where "take the the time to stop and smell the roses" really has true meaning.
And Joshua Bell is a true rose.

Sad commentary, is it not? I actually teared up through most of this article.
The parts about the children trying to stop and listen and how poetry is sucked out of us by the world make me especially sad. It reminds me of something I heard in church a LONG while back... I was serving some time in our church nursery and I can recall one of the babies napping. She just looked SO peaceful and full of bliss I couldn't help remarking about it to one of the other nursery workers. The other worker happened to be one of our "older and wiser" grandmoms in the church... she looked back at me and said "She smiles because the Lord's angels are telling her a bedtime story... the world hasn't hardened her ears to the voice of Heaven, YET." So true....
I used to teach a little girl's group during Wednesday night Bible study, too... and I was always filled with joy when I would watch the girls (between the ages of 4 and 6). Those little girls would outright rejoice over the simplest of things that we adults often don't even see or think much of. We were outside playing a game one summer evening when a butterfly landed on one of the girl's cute little dresses and they were all SO fascinated by it, they immediately stopped what they were doing to sit and watch the butterfly in awe. It was magical to them.
Funny how we are supposed to be raising and teaching the children of the world... and yet, we would all do well to remember to look at the world through the eyes of a child now and again.
I'd like to think I am one of the people who would have stopped against a wall, closed my eyes and taken in Mr. Bell for as long as he would play. Just told hubby about the article and he said "You would have stopped... I would have hurried you along."
Thanks for sharing, Ali... I'm inspired :)

Thank you so much for posting this! This is an AMAZING article; although I've never seen Joshua Bell or a photo of him, it is my hope that I would recognize his music... there are no words that can describe the way he plays; his understanding of the emotion of the notes is undeniable. This article actually reminded me of a quote I just used for a Layout:
"To Live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not repectable, and wealthy, not rich; to listen to stars and birds, babes and sages, with open heart; to study hard; to think quietly, act frankly, talk gently, await occasions, hurry never; in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious grow up through the common-- this is my symphony." - William Henry Channing

Wow. That's really all I can say. Thanks for putting this out there for others to read-and think about. It's sad, yet typical at the same time.

I read the article in the Washington Post Magazine two weekends ago. Sad that no one recognized or appreciated the music, especially since it was classical. One thought that I had ... if it was Justn Timberlane people would have stopped. Just goes to show you the society that we live in. If your not on MTV, your not well known.
Word to the wise, stop and enjoy the scenery once and a while rather than rush through life ... even if it means being a couple of minutes late. =)

I heard about this on NPR last week
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9521098
I thought about all the times I've rushed along & not been able to stop & smell the roses. Now that I opperate on toddler time, I really need to make sure I take time to stop, wonder with him, wander with him -- just be.

excellent article. thanks for the recommendation. thought provoking. i love the violin, but would i have stopped? i like to think so. i know my son would have :)

Thanks show much for sharing...I hope that I would have stopped...amazing...

Ali, I must say u r my biggest inspiration, in scrapbooking, and in life. U seem to always have so many things going on at once, but u still make time to make everyone around u feel important. U'r Mother side is the most inspirational, we all love our children, but what a wonderful mother u are to proudly document and post evey little detail of Simons life, even just everyday moments. How lucky he is to be all yours. U'r such a supportive wife and u'r amazing for not just taking u'r sons health in stride, but giving it all that u have to help all the other children whom are going through the same thing. What an amazing woman u are. I am u'r biggest fan, when it comes to u'r scrapbooks. U'r an amazing artist, I love to scrap, and u'r work has inspired hundreds of my pages. I can get enough inspiration for many pages, just looking at one of yours. I would just be honered if I ever got the chance to meet u. Dont ever stop doing what u'r doing, cause u'r doing better than anyone I've ever known. -Jennifer Martinez, McMinnville, OR.

I totally LOVED this article. Such a sad commentary on our lives. I printed out a copy and gave to my 22 yr old daughter with a note, "Hope your life is never so hectic that you miss "Pearls Before Breakfast". As always, thanks for sharing!

Absolutely amazing. All of it. Thanks for the gift.

I'd like to think that I would be one of the people who stopped. I would have stopped only for a little while because I'm sure I would have been late (I'm perpetually late!). This article has made me stop and think about how often I invite beauty in my life. I love music, particularly classical, yet how many times a week do I listen? Or look at beautiful patintings, or take photographs, or scrapbook? Or just watch the trees grow leaves? I've put this quote from the article in my file:
Do you have time for beauty?

I hope I would have stopped. God I hope so.
There have been many times I have later been ashamed of myself for rushing on to the next thing. My husband is telling me to enjoy the journey. I have always been about the destination. I hope to enjoy more journies along the way.

Did someone just donate $10,000????? Holy cow.

Thank you for sharing this!
And it looks like the $10,000 from Kevin Bacon was added to your total.....YAY!

Ali-Congrats on the sixdegrees.org top spot!
Mark your Tivo, Kevin Bacon is supposed to be a guest on Jay Leno, Friday 4/20.

thanks for this ali, it made a great read whilst i was sat at my desk eating lunch... which made me wonder, how much am I missing by eating my lunch at my desk surfing the net... tomorrow I plan to go for a walk and just observe, thank you!! (Also just bought a Josh Bell cd can't wait to listen, I love the violin!)

I love this article.
As a muscian, I would like to think that I would notice.
As a working mom with lots to do on most days, I had to face the reality that I might not.
I think I would have noticed...I think I would have stopped...I think I would have loved it...but I do not KNOW.
And therein lies the truth, right? If I do not KNOW I would have purposefully stopped to appreciate beauty, then I am not living my life purposefully enough to be enriched.
I might be a slave to my schedule and to meeting the deadline...
It made me wonder how much I have missed becuase I was trying to fit all of my life neatly into little boxes and not purposefully enjoying the expansive beauty all around me every single day.
I passed the article around at work.
Lots of people came to me and told me they noticed the trees and the beautiful spring time we are having here after reading the article. Lots of peole got outside, with an unnoticed, grand master violinist on their mind, and for the first time this week, they noticed that the trees were different colors of green and that the flowers are in bloom and that the air is filled with the zing of promise.
That, I think, is the truest gift that could have been had...a few moments with eyes wide open, noticing the wonder that God has made and appreciating that we are a part of it.
THANKS!