This is how great stories are told: “Pearls before breakfast” from Gene Weingarten of the Washington Post won the Pulitzer Prize in 2008 and is still one of my favorite articles of all times.

It tells the story of a man with a violin playing 6 Bach pieces for 45 minutes in a Washington DC metro station on a cold January morning in 2007. During that time about 2’000 people go by, only 6 people stop and stay for a while and 20 give him some money without stopping. He collects 32 dollars. When he finishes playing, no one applaudes, nor is there any recognition.

What no one knows: The violinist is Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world, playing one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars. Two days before his Washington DC subway session, Joshua Bell played in a sold out Boston theatre where the tickets for his concert averaged 100 dollars each.

Joshua Bell’s incognito play in the metro station was part of a social experiment of the Washington Post focusing on perception, taste and people’s priorities. The main questions of the experiment were:

In a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour:

• Do we perceive beauty?
• Do we stop to appreciate it?
• Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?

One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing some of the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?

When it comes to great stories, there’s one simple truth: We can see them every day, on any usual day, but we might simply be missing them for the same reasons we would walk by Joshua Bell: Because we don’t take the time to pause and listen closely. It only takes a moment for an idea to unfold. But you need to be willing to spare it.

Are you listening?