ca. 1930 — Violinist Fritz Kreisler with Dog — Image by © Austrian Archives/CORBIS / CC BY

Listening to music is one of the simple pleasures I indulge in to lend beauty and serenity to my workaday life. I’ve also found that music often sharpens my focus, and recently I was browsing on Amazon with the intention of treating myself to some new music to help me concentrate while writing. Like many people, I gravitate towards what I’m familiar and comfortable with, and since I grew up immersed in classical music—I’m especially partial to the Baroque composers—I had it in mind to look for a Baroque anthology, or maybe a collection of quiet cello pieces. But one click led to another—you know how that goes when you’re surfing the Internet—and somehow I found myself on the product page for world-renowned violinist Joshua Bell’s The Kreisler Album CD.

At first I was dubious, since I had never heard of violinist and composer Fritz Kreisler before—he wasn’t a major composer like Bach or Beethoven or Brahms, and some critics don’t consider his music “serious”—but when I listened to the online samples, I was charmed and decided to take a chance on the album. I’ve played it repeatedly over the past several weeks, and I’m sorry to report that it has not helped me one whit with my productivity.

That’s all right with me, though, because I’m totally smitten with Kreisler’s compositions! I was hoping to derive some practical value from my purchase, but instead I got something much better: music that makes my spirit dance.

Buoyant.

That’s the word this music conjures up. It’s joyful and playful, and when I hear it, I’m transformed into a cheerful red balloon tied to a little girl’s wrist, bobbing along in a soft breeze and enjoying a leisurely day at the county fair. I’m floating high above the crowd, carefree and reveling in the sights and smells: colorful neon lights, cotton candy, honey-roasted peanuts, rotund pink piglets.

PHOTO CREDIT: “GIRL WITH A RED BALLOON,” by MICHAL KORALEWSKI / CC BY-NC-ND

A masterful violinist himself, Kreisler was intimately familiar with the instrument’s unique capabilities, and his melodies enable the violin to sing and soar as only the violin can. No, it might not be considered serious music; but sometimes serious is not what we need. Sometimes what we need is a gentle boost to help carry us through our day and infuse it with lightheartedness.

What we need is an antidote to the serious business—and busy-ness—of living.

What are you missing out on?

Joshua Bell’s interpretation of Kreisler’s music is, of course, impeccable. His playing is by turns dramatic and lyrical, without ever descending into the maudlin, and laced throughout with humor.

I’m reminded that in 2007, Joshua Bell played incognito for 43 minutes in a Washington, DC, Metro station as part of an experiment conducted by the Washington Post. You may remember hearing about this; it made a big splash in the news. But it wasn’t the fact of his playing in the station that was so newsworthy; it was that he was largely ignored. During that 43 minutes, over a thousand people passed by, but only a handful stopped briefly to listen. People were so focused on getting to their destinations that they were deaf to the beauty of his playing.

Many of those same people wouldn’t have hesitated to splurge on very expensive tickets to hear Mr. Bell play in Carnegie Hall; but they couldn’t appreciate what he was offering for free in the Metro station. Same virtuoso musician, wrong context. What a shame.

PHOTO CREDIT: “JOSHUA BELL,” by CHRIS LEE / CC BY-NC-ND

But who am I to judge? Would I have stopped to listen to Mr. Bell’s performance? If I’m honest with myself, I have to admit that I don’t know. I’d like to think so; but I might have rushed along like the rest of the masses, too preoccupied with my busy day to recognize that sublime performance for what it was.

Would you have stopped?

How to shift your perspective

If you’re like me, you don’t want to turn a blind eye to those extraordinary moments that life may place unexpectedly in your path. So what can we do to counteract our tendency to let our day-to-day cares overwhelm our ability to see and appreciate those moments? My experiences with Kreisler’s delightful music gently schooled me in a couple of ways to create more flexible, resilient minds that can perceive the magic beyond the mundane:

• Play. If Kreisler’s music is any indication, this was a man who knew how to play. His compositions aren’t serious or substantial, and they don’t pretend to be; they’re short, none longer than six minutes, and their fun-loving nature admonishes me not to take life so seriously but to make time to smile, to laugh, to dance.

It was telling that when Joshua Bell was playing in the Metro station, the passersby who took the most notice of him were children; it was the adults who hurried them off. The children know something that we adults have forgotten.

Of course, we all know that play is important for children. But even for adults, play has a host of benefits: it can help create community, relieve stress, keep your brain sharp, and boost your creativity. If your play skills are rusty, here are some ideas to get you started:

•   Blow some bubbles

•   Build a sand castle

•   Play a rousing game of fetch with your dog

•   Fly a kite

•   Doodle or color

PHOTO CREDIT: “CHASE,” by AMSD2DTH / CC BY-NC-ND

For more suggestions, see this list of 40 ideas to experience childlike playfulness as adults. And if you’d like to further explore the science of play, read researcher Stuart Brown’s book, Play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul, or watch his TED talk.

• Break out of your routines. Stretching yourself and embracing new experiences, instead of clinging to the same routines and habits, will help you adapt to change, increase your productivity, and open your mind to novel ways of thinking. You don’t have to do anything drastic; baby steps will do. Order a turkey sandwich instead of your usual tuna salad for lunch, or take a different route to work.

PHOTO CREDIT: “YOUR COMFORT ZONE, WHERE THE MAGIC HAPPENS,” by OKLANICA / CC BY-NC

I find this especially challenging, since I draw a lot of security from my routines. But by choosing music by a composer I’d never heard of, instead of giving in to the temptation to stick with more familiar music, I ventured—albeit briefly—out of my comfort zone and was richly rewarded.

Two simple strategies to adjust your priorities. You may think they’re too simple, too trivial to make much difference in your life. But what do you have to lose by trying them? And what do you have to gain?

Maybe—just maybe—viewing life through the prism of play and innovation will help you see the world in a new light. Then, when that glorious burning bush appears in front of you, you’ll recognize it for what it is.

How do you like to play? What steps are you taking to shake up your entrenched habits and preferences? Leave a comment below.

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