Play to Your Self-Worth
- olivierbranford
- Mar 23
- 9 min read
Updated: Mar 24
A violinist played for 45 minutes in the New York subway. A handful of people stopped, a couple clapped, and the violinist raised about $30 in tips. Not necessarily any surprises there.
No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, who was wearing a T-shirt and a baseball cap, who was one of the world's most skilled violin virtuosos; one of the best musicians of our era in the whole world.
In that subway, Joshua played some of the most intricate and highly respected classical music pieces ever written, with a Stradivarius violin worth 3.5 million dollars. Two days before he played in the subway, Joshua Bell had sold out a Boston theatre, and the seats averaged about $100. This true story was written up as a long feature in the Washington Post, which won a Pulitzer Prize for journalism. What does it tell us about value and self-worth?
Play to your self-worth
The author of the article was a regular writer for the Post, who convinced classical violinist Joshua Bell, voted the best classical musician in America to try being a street musician to find out what would happen.
During a January morning rush hour, Bell opened the case to his Stradivarius violin and played in the subway station at L'Enfant Plaza in Washington. Joshua was in town playing a concert at the Library of Congress, and agreed to participate in this unprecedented social and musical experiment. It was anybody's guess as to what would happen. Would passers-by recognise genius and talent or just walk by? Would a large crowd obstruct the commuter traffic? How much money would he make? Could hallowed music and ‘high art’ make a mark or maybe shine some bright sunshine into the everyday world of commuters in a hurry?
A hidden camera (see the video above) documented what happened during a 43-minute period, while Bell played pieces by Bach, Schubert (Ave Maria), Massenet, and Manuel Ponce. He opened at 7:51 AM on Friday, January 12, with Bach's 14 minute Chaconne (Violin Partita No. 2 in D Minor), generally considered to be the single greatest solo violin work and one of the greatest musical compositions ever created. It was played on one of the finest instruments the world has ever known, the so-called 'Gibson ex Huberman' Stradivarius, made in 1713 at the peak of the legendary luthier's powers. The subway location was chosen because it was a place where the acoustics were not bad, and the music would carry reasonably well. Bell even took a taxi three blocks to the subway to keep his instrument from even getting slightly cold.
Three minutes went by before something happened. Sixty-three people had already passed when, finally, there was a breakthrough of sorts. A middle-age man altered his gait for a split second, turning his head to notice that there seemed to be some guy playing music. Yes, the man kept walking, but it was something. A half-minute later, Bell got his first donation. A woman threw in a dollar and scooted off. It was not until six minutes into the performance that someone actually stood against a wall, and listened. Things never got much better. In the three-quarters of an hour that Joshua Bell played, a mere seven people stopped what they were doing to hang around and take in the performance, at least for a minute. Twenty-seven gave money, most of them on the run -- for a total of $32 and change. That leaves the 1,070 people who hurried by, oblivious, many only three feet away, few even turning to look.
If Joshua had been playing to raise peoples spirits then he would have been serving and that would be fine. But in this particular situation it was an experiment in personal value.
The experiment proved that the extraordinary, in an ordinary environment, does not shine and is so often overlooked and undervalued. There are brilliantly talented people everywhere who aren't receiving the recognition and reward they deserve. But once they arm themselves with self-worth, value, and confidence and remove themselves from an environment that isn't serving them, and doesn’t appreciate them, they thrive and grow.
Your gut is always telling you something. Listen to it. Go where you are appreciated and valued. Not for external validation. Why, as it asks in the Bible in Matthew 7:6, “Cast your pearls before swine”? Sydney Smith said that “He has spent all his life letting down baskets into empty wells.“ Are you letting down baskets into empty wells?
We are more scared of ego death than of actual death. This is why not feeling worthy feels like a mortal survival fear.
Know your worth. Every day is a blank canvas, waiting for you to paint it with your own unique strokes of positivity. Fill it with myriad colours of your creativity, potential, talent, and infinite possibility. Embrace every moment, cherish every opportunity, and make the most of every single day.
We have been given a treasure trove of unique talents that should be accepted with responsibility and gratitude. Your self-worth comes from knowing your unique talents as Deepak Chopra states in his book ‘The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success’, which is in my ‘Suggested Reading’ list. Your value is who you are. Who do you need to be in order to live in abundance and solve all of your problems? The answer is simply you, the real you; also known as your Higher Power. May your gifts flourish in great Faith and charity so that they may also benefit others.
Love who you are, for who you are, the Universe loves. In Islam, there's this saying "One who knows him Self, knows his Lord Almighty."
It all begins and ends with your thinking. What you give power to has power over you, if you allow it. Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll start having positive results. Don’t be pushed around by fears of not being good enough in your mind, be led by dreams in your heart. You are in charge of how you feel inside, so choose self-love and joy. Choose people and places who value you.
I hope you are learning to give yourself the credit you deserve. I hope you are beginning to recognise just how strong you are for pulling yourself through each and every difficult time in your life. I hope you allow this realisation to walk with you, alongside any obstacles or roadblocks you might encounter along your journey. I hope you know just how much you are capable of and that no matter how challenging a situation may seem, you have the courage to keep moving forward, keep growing, and keep healing. I hope you can look in the mirror and say "I'm proud of you. I love you." and really mean it.
And above all, I hope you realise just how incredible you are and just how much you deserve your own love. Who needs a spotlight or appreciation by people who don’t value you when you already radiate from within? Your character and heart shine brighter than any external recognition. Your light brings hope, joy, and inspiration to those around you. Keep shining unapologetically.
Mozart wrote in 1778 at the age 22 about playing piano at a party for the Duchesse de Chabot during his first trip to Paris to look for work: “After an hour’s wait in the cold I began to play upon a miserable and wretched pianoforte. The most annoying thing about it was that Madame and all the gentlemen never for one moment interrupted their occupations, but continued the whole time, so it was to the chairs and the table that I was playing. I had begun some of Fisher’s Variations. I played half and rose. Then a burst of applause. Give me the best piano in Europe and for an audience of people who neither understand nor wish to understand music, who feel nothing with me that I am playing, and I lose all joy in performing.” If the greatest musical genius the world has ever known gets treated the same way that many skilled musicians have experienced, can we be surprised that Joshua Bell fared little better in the subway 229 years later?
Bell returned to the subway station seven years later to perform a concert to promote music education. This time it was advertised, and there was a huge crowd as he played Bach and Mendelssohn.
Bell, a child prodigy, said about his first experience on the subway "There was this thought: What if they don’t like me? What if they resent my presence? It was a strange feeling, that people were actually, ah... ignoring me.” Bell had never felt this before when playing his violin. And why should he? It's not that he needed recognition - he already had that - but why play to those who don't appreciate you or don't have time for you?
Some months I get over 15,000 views of my articles. Why would I write for social media channels where people are just interested in the masks that they can portray and have no interest in your true value?
Believe in your Self and trust that you have the power to make a positive impact on the world. Step into BEing and the abundance will manifest as surely as the river flows from its source to the sea. You deserve success.
Namaste.
Olly
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