Last night I had a "pat the puppy" moment (a la Annie Dillard). My husband and I took advantage of the beautiful weather and went to Green Lake to hear a friend's bluegrass band. They were set up down from the Bathhouse next to the path.
The music was fun and enjoyable to listen to--I really like 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 Green Lake, you don't expect to come across a good bluegrass band. So, people would stop and stand. Then they would move closer. Then they would come and sit down. Of course, there were those who started to dance, but that never lasted very long. I think everyone was amazed by and drawn to the music. The audience came and went, but everyone seemed, well amazed is not the right word, they seemed delighted and surprized. Serendipity. (The faculty or phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for.)
This moment of joy and discovery came and went very quickly (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 nor eyes to see. We just don't have the time, or don't take the time to truly live where we are.
A few years ago, Joshua Bell, one of the great violinists of our time, participated in a little experiment. A reporter in Washington thought it would be great to set up Bell as a busking violinist in the subway. They were worried that they might cause quite a scene and were prepared for crowds and a bit of chaos. What they were not prepared to face was indifference. Only about two people (out of over 1,000) stopped to hear him play. Only one really recognized him (she had just heard him perform a few weeks earlier). Indifference rather than serendipity. Random beauty ignored.
Here are a couple of articles about Joshua Bell's experiment, if you are interested:
* http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html
* http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2007/04/06/DI2007040601228.html
I don't know if there is really anything that we can really 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 summers?" But if we don't look, hear and touch, how will we ever experience serendipity?
Yet we prepare for a great music, and we want to be ready to play when the time comes.
Serendipity to you!
Chelle
"old-timey harmony"
ReplyDeleteLove it!