Glimpses of Greatness

A man stood inside a Metro station in Washington, D.C. and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, thousands of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Many minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule.

A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the bucket and without stopping continued to walk.

A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.

The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32 mostly in coins. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

The violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the most celebrated musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written on a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.

Two days before his playing in the D.C. Metro, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and with tickets averaging $100.

This is a real story. Joshua Bell incognito concert in the D.C. Metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of an social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines 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 lessons from this experience is:

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

(Ed. note: I received Joshua Bell’s album Vivaldi: The Four Seasons for Christmas, so this story fascinated me when I read it this morning on another blog.)

Out of My Hands

Sunset in Carmel - A lovely vision to begin a new year with.

I’m ready for a new year. It’s safe to say that 2008 was the most exhausting, stretching, and unique year of my life thus far, but I’m glad it will be over in mere hours. The only plan I have at this point for 2009 is a trip to Italy (and hopefully Greece!) at the end of June. The rest of the year is WIDE open (Not having any plans is one of my greatest fears, btw). This year, I followed my dreams. Next year, I think I’ll work on conquering my fears. I’m most afraid of failure, so I’ll start there, meditating on this question:

What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?

Story of Success, Part II

When I was reading Outliers last week, one of Gladwell’s points resonated with me on a personal level: “There is complexity, autonomy, and a relationship between effort and reward in doing creative work, and that’s worth more to most of us than money. Work that fulfills those three criteria is meaningful…Hard work is a prison sentence only if it does not have meaning.”

He summed up perfectly something that I have realized about myself. I’m extremely goal-oriented and driven to succeed IF I believe what I’m striving for is meaningful, and I can clearly see a reward for my effort. Because of this, I do well with deadlines, and I’m drawn to creative tasks that allow me to generate a finished product. I enjoy projects like scrapbooking, editing photos, writing, planning dinner parties or events, baking, and organizing.

Speaking of the relationship between effort and reward, I’m still waiting for my LSAT results and trying not to fixate on the thought that my test is probably scored, sitting in a room somewhere. I can’t wait to know my results. One day when I was studying at a coffee shop, a man and his young sons asked if they could use one of the extra chairs at my table. I agreed, and then he asked what I was studying. I told him, and he turned to his sons and said, “Wow, she’s going to be a lawyer!” His enthusiasm caught me off guard, but as I sat there and continued to plow through Arguments, I realized that I want to be a lawyer more than I’ve really admitted to anyone. I know that the hard work would be more than worthwhile.

Story of Success

I read Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell over the past two days. The book was fascinating, and the pouring rain was an excuse to curl up by the fire and drink in Gladwell’s theories on how successful people become successful.

In one of his most interesting points, Gladwell writes, “What is the question we always ask about the successful? We want to know what they’re like–what kind of personalities they have, or how intelligent they are, or what kind of lifestyles they have, or what special talents they might have been born with. And we assume that it is those personal qualities that explain how that individual reached the top.”

Throughout the book, he uses numerous examples to demonstrate that while successful people are often intelligent and achievement-oriented on an individual basis, other elements like luck, history, opportunity, and cultural legacy also shaped the lives of society’s outliers: Bill Gates, Robert Oppenheimer, the Beatles.

Gladwell points out that we often try to downplay our social class and cultural heritage, mistakenly thinking that we can overcome where we’re from. Certainly, Tiger Woods has an undeniable athletic ability. However, he also inherited a belief in work that resulted from his Asian heritage: He has seen a clear relationship between effort and reward on the golf course.

Additionally, if Woods had been born in Kansas instead of Cypress, California, an area that abounds with golf courses, which in turn enabled him to begin practicing golf at the age of two, he most likely would not be the talent he is today (Gladwell theorizes that “excellence at performing a complex task requires a critical minimum level of practice…’ten thousand hours of practice is required to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world-class expert–in anything,’ writes the neurologist Daniel Levitin”).

Woods was able to practice golf for 10,000+ hours because he grew up surrounded by golf courses and he was born with a solid work ethic and his parents believed in concerted cultivation of his natural athletic ability. The greatest golfer in the world didn’t earn that title solely by himself. Other external factors set him up for success.

Gladwell concludes, “Superstar lawyers and math whizzes and software entrepreneurs often appear at first blush to lie outside ordinary experience. But they don’t. They are products of history and community, of opportunity and legacy. Their success is not exceptional or mysterious. It is grounded in a web of advantages and inheritances, some deserved, some not, some earned, some just plain lucky–but all critical to making them who they are. The outlier, in the end, is not an outlier at all.”

If you’re looking for a book that will challenge you and make you think, read Outliers. I’m currently contemplating how I’m going to spend my 10,000 hours–I’d love to become a world-class expert at something.

Perfect Cookies

These Oatmeal Toffee Cookies from Cooking Light are ideal for a last-minute holiday gathering or office party. Preparation is a breeze, and the result is fluffy, toffee-studded bites of bliss. The recipe, and my notes, below.

3/4 cup flour
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/3 cup almond toffee bits
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, oats, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl; stir with a whisk. Place sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 5 minutes). Add vanilla and egg; beat well. Add flour mixture; beat until just combined. Stir in toffee bits.

Drop dough by tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart on 2 baking sheets coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350 degrees for 11 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on pans 1 minute. Remove cookies from pans; cool completely on wire racks. Yield: 2 dozen.

(A few notes: Double this recipe…I did, and my yield was 3 dozen. The recipe calls for softened butter, but I added butter at room temperature. Soften if you prefer your cookies to spread out more. I prefer mine smaller in size, but chewy in texture, which is exactly how they turned out. While I’m sure almond toffee bits are delicious, I added Heath English Milk Chocolate Toffee Bits, and received rave reviews.)

Today was the first day in about a month that included absolutely no LSAT studying. The test is officially behind me, now comes the fun part: Waiting to receive the email with my results! I jokingly told my dad that the most challenging part of the exam was writing a declaration in cursive….it took me a few moments to remember how to write “I” in cursive. The test was brutally long, so my only hope is that I won’t need to retake it.

My post-LSAT to-do list includes designing the family Christmas card, finishing my Christmas shopping, reading Outliers and many other books, catching up on countless hours of TV shows, researching law schools, and hopefully figuring out what I’m doing with my life. One year after graduation, I’m in the absolute last place and position I dreamed I’d be. Oh what a difference a year makes.

“The highest courage is to dare to be yourself in the face of adversity. Choosing right over wrong, ethics over convenience, and truth over popularity…these are the choices that measure your life. Travel the path of integrity without looking back, for there is never a wrong time to do the right thing.” -Author unknown

Well, today is the final day of NaBloPoMo. I made it (actually, I missed one day, but hopefully you didn’t notice!), and I’m feeling relieved. I’ve enjoyed blogging more regularly than I ever had in the past, but I don’t think I’ve become a daily blogger just yet. I was more motivated to write on some days than others, and certain topics were easy to open up about while others were more difficult. Plus, I’m a quality over quantity type of writer, so I’d rather post a bit infrequently than blog just for the sake of blogging.

Now excuse me…I have an LSAT to prepare for. Hopefully life will become interesting and provide me with writing fodder again soon.

Fashion Fades, Style is Eternal

If you can, visit the YSL exhibit at the de Young in San Francisco. The collection is absolutely breathtaking and an exceptional tribute to the late designer. Though photography technically wasn’t allowed, I did sneak a few photos. Excuse the quality of my flashless photography!

I loved the colors of this silk gown and wrap:

This was his tribute to Vincent van Gogh:

Nothing is more playful than polka dots:

Left My Heart in San Francisco

I’m sitting in an adorable cafe in SF, preparing for my morning LSAT study session (the rest of the family is still asleep, of course). This is my first time in the city in more than a year, and it’s absolute bliss to be back. As I walked up Fillmore last night and browsed shop windows, sparkling with white Christmas lights, I realized that I was and am happy…though the past year didn’t turn out as expected, I’ve retained my desire to be a life long learner, willing to soak up experiences and grow as a person wherever I am in the world. Today marks a trip to the de Young to catch the Yves Saint Laurent exhibit…pictures to follow tomorrow!