Saturday, June 25, 2011

Saturday Story from Siva (51): Story of a Musician and The Perception of His Talent by People

Hi,
Good morning! It’s all about perceptions. It’s my perception of myself, your perception of myself, my perception of your perception of myself, my perception of your perception of others’ perception of myself. Likewise, it is perception about people, objects, situations, results, actions, and anything and everything, we all think about. It is how we perceive the elements of a situation, analyse them, explore alternatives, and decide on the line of action that determines our success. It is the perception that makes us do what we do. Let me share with you this week a true story that helps us appreciate the value of perception better. Here it is….
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Story of a Musician and The Perception of His Talent by People
Source: Internet info (http://www.persian.asia/text/story-on-perception)
A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; He  played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, thousands of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule.
A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk. A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started
to walk again. Clearly he was late for work. The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected in total $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any  recognition.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most  intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars. No one cared for it. But, two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell’s concert was sold out at a theatre in Boston and the seat fee averaged  $100. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of an social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people.
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Yes, we value things based on how we perceive of them. Yes, perceptions are very important. Successful people have a good knack of perceiving about themselves and their people’s perspectives clearly. They are aware that it is just perceptions and that the perceptions of people involved might not necessarily be same about the same subject, and also that they might vary from time to time. And it is always possible that others’ perceptions could throw more light on the situation than their own perception. It is when we put ourselves in the other person’s shoes, we will be able to appreciate the situation better.
The Best for you always,
Siva

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