Last night I had a 'pat the puppy' moment (a la Dillard). My husband and I took advantage of the gorgeous weather and went to Greenlake to hear a friend's bluegrass band. They didn't do anything special, they just set up alongside the path down from the Bathhouse Theater.
The music was perfect for such a lazy, summer evening--I just love that old-timey harmony! I sat back, listened to the music, watched the people, watched the dogs, watched the people with their dogs (lots of dogs) and observed people's reactions to the music. For one thing, the band was really good. When you are walking around Greenlake, you don't expect randomly to come across a good bluegrass band. So, people would stop and stand. Then they would move closer.Then they would sit down. Of course, there were those who started to dance, but that never lasted long. This was an experience of listening. The audience came and went, but everyone who went by seemed delighted and surprised by a random act of beauty. Serendipity! (According to Websters: "finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for.")
This moment of joy and discovery disappeared almost as soon as I noticed it, but I was there, under the fading blue sky of a warm Seattle evening listening to music; content with the world.
How do these moments happen? Random beauty surrounds us yet we rarely stop to notice. We have no ears to hear or eyes to see. We just don't have the time, or don't take the time to truly live ("indwell") where we are.
A few years ago, Joshua Bell, one the great violinists of our time, participated in a little experiment about random beauty. A reporter in Washington thought it would be great to set up Bell as a busking violinist in a DC subway during rush hour. They were worried that they might cause a scene and were prepared for crowds and a bit of chaos. What they were not prepared for was indifference. Only about 2 people stopped (out of over 1,000). One had recently heard him play a concert. Indifference rather than serendipity. Random beauty ignored.
I don't know if there is really anything we can learn from this. We all have our moments of 'noticing'. However, if we don't ignore something at one time or another, then we would be overwhelmed by it all--not just the beauty. "How could any human being endure such ravishment of the senses, every hour of every day for many winters and summer?" But if we don't look, hear and touch, how will we ever 'pat the puppy'?
In the meantime, all we can do is prepare ourselves for a great music, so that we will be ready to play (and/or listen) when the time comes.
Serendipity to you!
Chelle
If you are interested in following up on the Joshua Bell story, here are a couple of links to articles:
And if I were a painter I do not know which I'd paint
ReplyDeleteThe calling of the ancient stars or assembling of the saints
And there's so much beauty around us for just two eyes to see
But everywhere I go I'm looking
- Rich Mullins, Here in America