A post by Seth Godin led me to the transcript of a discussion with Washington Post writer Gene Weingarten. The topic was an experiment Gene conducted to see if violinist Josh Bell (incognito in a baseball cap) and his Stradivarius playing in a transit station could stop busy commuters rushing to work.
As you might expect, almost nobody stopped. The discussion touched on how sad it was that people missed a moment of beauty in the rat race to get to work.
I like to think I would have stopped. Life is short, and we need to seize those moments of beauty when we can. When walking my dog on a frigid but clear night, I look at the stars and appreciate how many more chances I have to see them. Yes, even though this has resulted in having to wear a ski jacket for half the year.
When my kids were small and would come in with grass stains on their knees, I would think of my favourite quote from the Calvin and Hobbes cartoons by Bill Watterson:
“I say if your knees aren’t green at the end of the day, you oughta seriously re-examine your life.”
How do you make sure your knees are green at the end of the day?
Sometimes my knees are literally green from gardening, or these days, brown, from transplanting bushes which I’ve been doing over the weekend. I like to take an hour after lunch each day to putter around outside my house or take a long walk through my parents’ neighbouring 16-acre property. That’s one of the big benefits of living and working in the country.
That’s also one of the big benefits of working solo. Aren’t you looking forward to a little heat to encourage more budding out in the garden?
I always stop to listen to good classical buskers. It is good to hear civilised music in the streets rather than trash.
Quality is the one thing missing in life today.