This week, I got a Merry Christmas email from one of my most respectful professors, stated that he thinks himself as a technology leader, perhaps he "should send email cards, at least to my technology literate friends, among which I count you". As flattered as I am to be considered as a techonolgy nerd, I replied as:
"I actually still believe in hand-written cards that we can physically hold in our hands, so this year, I will still be mailing my Christmas greetings.
Thanks you so much for the kind wishes and for keeping up with our 'new' or 'innovative' ways to electronically communicate with each other. I believe old fashion value never dies, and should never die. In China, we have a saying that:"You can see through a person by his/her calligraphy." Nowadays, everything emphasizes 'fast', 'speed', 'efficiency'; however, time is actually the most precious gift we can ever give to someone."
In 10 minutes, my professor responded:" In truth, I sent our Christmas letter that way to 15 former students partly because I'm late, partly to save money, and partly to demonstrate paper Christmas cards are NOT going away. Of 15 I sent out Sunday afternoon, by Monday morning (proving these are NERDS), I received 7 responses, all similar to yours, saying in various ways, 'I'm sticking with paper.'
Mission accomplished :-)"
Phew!! I passed the test again. After 4.5 years out of school, I am till taking his test and learning from him. The only difference is that he is now coaching me about the virtue value of life.
Yes, the point of sending out a card, or offering a gift as small as a box of cookies or even a hand shake, or a hug, is to show appreciation for the past, for the friendship, for the effort received, for all of those who made an impact to our lives. Technology has made us so easy to remember special events: we get reminders on Facebook of friends' birthdays, we use E-calendar to mark anniversary dates, we can send out a Happy Birthday/Anniversary/Holidays in 5 seconds to our friends, we can even generate a sketch art work by computer program instead of having an artist spend days of sweats and emotions injected into the canvas. Everything is about fast. The truth is "When I slow down, I go faster". Slow down to appreciate others' effort, slow down to re-align priorities in life, and slow down to hand write to my dear friends:
Merry Christmas!
