True Beauty???

So I went for a jog this morning by the Thames. As the burning in my chest became almost unbearable, I paused for a smoke. (Yes I smoke after excercise and I'm generally counterproductive). But I digress.

As I took a break, I saw a little girl performing a strange sort of tap dance to an Elvis Presley classic.

I slumped back against a wall and watched this girl dance. She was maybe 7 or 8 with messy blonde hair and the kind of semi toothless smile that causes people to smile back.

Anywho, as the beat picked up she started moving faster and more intricately. And as the rain started to drip on both of us, I thought "wow this girl's bloody amazing". I mean really amazing, I've never seen anything like it.

I moved closer and crouched down to watch (I'm not the kind of guy who is easily impressed).

As she danced I took a look around. It seemed that apart from a woman who I assumed was this girl's mother, I was the only one who stopped to watch this girls performance.

Around me people were rushing by. Some people took a glance before rushing off. A man engrossed in his newspaper almost tripped over me. And a young woman on a bicycle rushed past me so fast that splashes of water hit my face.

"What's wrong with everyone?" I thought. Are they really not seeing what I'm seeing?

After the girl finally stopped after maybe what seemed like 10minutes, I gave her some change and ruffled her hair before making my way home.

As I sat on a train, I was reminded of a story I once read. (A true story).

From what I can remember it starts with a man standing in a metro station in washington DC during rush hour on a weekday.

This man took out his violin and started busking. He played several pieces by Bach. As he played several children paused before being dragged away by their parents. A few others paused and swiftly moved on. Some people stopped briefly to give him some change.

When the man had finished playing there was no applause and he had amassed around $30.

What the people in the metro did not know was that this man was Joshua Bell, the grammy award winning violinist.

He played some of the most intricate and beautiful pieces of music on a 3.5million dollar violin. All for a mere $30 and no recognition.

It later turned out that the whole thing was an experiment to see whether, or how we percieve beauty particularly in regards to environment, taste and appropriateness.

I'm reminded of the little pixie girl dancing in the rain.

As one of my movie heroes Ferris Bueller once said.

"Life's too short, if you dont stop to smell the roses once in a while, you might miss it.

Or something like that.