Tonight, I want to share 3 feel good moments with you.

1. The first is a video.
2. The second is a photo.
3. The third is a story.

1. I discovered this video on a friend’s Facebook wall and not only loved the music behind it (Give a Little Bit by Roger Hodgson, the voice of a band named Supertramp).  It’s actually an ad for Coca-Cola apparently but I love the message behind it.  It’s just a feel-good video to encourage us all to have a little faith in humanity.

2. I discovered this photo on the same friend’s Facebook wall, actually.

The story appended to it follows…

“A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that 1,100 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three 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 till and without stopping, and 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. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the most talented musicians in the world. He had just played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, on a violin worth $3.5 million dollars.

Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a 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 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 the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?”

3. Last, this is a story that I shared on my own Facbeook wall earlier this afternoon.

I was impressed that 6 hours later it now has almost 100 ‘likes’.  I didn’t think this story would be so widely liked but, when I re-read it a few times and thought about it more, I was kind of moved by it all over again.  Today I wore that jacket, too.  It’s great, one of my favorites – all black (versatile), with a red Polo horse on it.  It’s extremely warm (I was almost sweating as I had dessert with a friend this evening, perfect for skiing haha) and insulating…even has a zipper section on the collar for a hood to fold into.  The normal price was $100 and it was marked down to twenty dollars off.

Most of all though I think people may like this story because it just goes to show how a small and seemingly insignificant act can really be what changes things. I was more than ‘bummed’ – I loved this jacket as soon as I saw it, but I have an almost identical Virginia Tech fleece, and didn’t necessarily think I needed a second one.  But this lady, who I assume was buying this for a male relative, was nice enough to let me have it even though I offered it to her.

I remember seeing her check-out too…I had kind of been hoping at some point she would put the jacket back!  But I assumed that as they scanned it for her she was buying it.  I’m sure you already know that I wasn’t ever expecting to own this jacket because, well, she had purchased it.  But it just goes to show that a small gesture of kindness can really go a long way and pay dividends in the long run.  I wish I could find the lady – to thank her with a wristband and to let her know how jazzed I am over this jacket.  But that’s one of the most interesting parts about being being randomly and, more importantly, actively kind – you really never do know the full impact of your actions.