Are we losing the ability to appreciate the extraordinary? Are our lives so overloaded with constant input that we’ve become desensitised to remarkable moments?
Henri Herbert is an undoubtedly talented musician. He plays piano with the Jim Jones Revue. You may have seen the YouTube video below when it was published almost a year ago. It’s a video of Henri sitting down to give an impromptu performance at St Pancras International station, London.
It’s amazing to see the indifference from most people in the station. They’re so busy with what’s happening in their own worlds that they fail to notice that something amazing is happening right next to them. Watch the video and take notice of the crowd.
Are we taking enough time in our lives to notice what’s going on around us? Are we missing the beauty that we might otherwise experience? I wonder if we’re seeing so much innovation and leaps forward in technology that we’ve lost a sense of awe at the remarkable.
What steps are you taking to ensure that you’re open to the extraordinary, even when it comes to you in quiet moments and subtle ways?
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Wow!!! Amazing playing. I am amazed it didn’t draw a huge crowd.
I can relate to what you are saying. We are so overloaded with input that we can lose sight of the extraordinary.
I regularly draw aside to pray and just stop. I also have time off social media to live in the real world and build lots of margins in my week to relax and reflect.
I think you’ve hit the nail on the head. We need to be intentional about slowing down and looking at what’s right in front of us.
Many of us get caught up in the physical world and forget that we are essentially spiritual beings.
Several years back we used to hear a lot about ‘margins’ but sadly it doesn’t seem to be the case any more.
Several things: my dad was always messing with this tune. Second, amazing how he is ignored. How can that be? Easy. Preoccupation. Ear buds. just pure lack of observation. I hope I never miss the miraculous in the mundane.
When we slow down and start being intentional about finding the miraculous in the mundane we notice more and more. Even the very life sustaining act of breathing, night and day, every day, is a gift from the author of life.
What a loss. What a waste.
I wonder also if we don’t value anything that comes for free, as though the cost is a measure of value. I often have had tickets to concerts, the theatre, ballet or opera and I can’t give them away however hard I try. Apathy wins over every time.
It’s a little like the emperor’s new clothes. We fail to discern what is really of value for ourselves, relying instead on the value that others place on what should be plain for us to see.