July 30, 2008

• Revisited A Year Later

  A little more than a year ago, I went through a lengthy audition process in Singapore to get into one of their professional dramatic training companies.  I say lengthy because I was there auditioning for more than three hours, and it was originally a scheduled six hour audition.  The remaining hours was cut because the president of the academy who was auditioning me decided to "waive" the English test I was required to take.  (Not an exaggeration!)  When I left that audition, there was one more requirement that I had to do in order to be fully evaluated.  And no, the president was not going to waive this requirement.  It was a writing sample.  Now granted, he was not familiar with my blogs nor my plays.  I could've simply copied and pasted something I've done in the past, but since I went through all the trouble to get to Singapore to audition, and since at that point my foot was fractured, I decided to create something new.  Since my most recent topic was on gratitude, I figured now is a good time to post what I sent to the academy: 
  
  One Letter Makes a Difference

  Almost ten years ago, I was asked to give a speech to a church group in regards to why I was chosen to teach conversational English in China on behalf of their organization.  While I was writing an initial draft to what I was going to share with them, I got distracted and I misspelled a word. I initially wanted to say that it was either “divine or cosmic” intervention in my introduction, but I left out the “s” in “cosmic,” so when I spoke, I said “comic” intervention! 
  
  Luckily, I had with me copies of letters written to me over the years from members of that church.  So when I made the initial faux pas of saying “comic” instead of “cosmic,” I seized an opportunity that was a result of a mistake. I immediately pointed out to the group that I meant “cosmic,” which resulted in laughter.  I then pointed out that if you replace the “c” in “cat” with an “r,” you get a totally different animal.  Then I jokingly asked the group which animal would they rather have as a pet. 
  
  So then I grabbed a letter from my pile that I brought along with me and read aloud an excerpt of it.  The letter was written to me following a breakup in my relationship and a crisis I had with my parents at that time.  I then shared the Bible verse the person shared with me (Jeremiah 29:11) and revealed the identity of the letter because that person was well known among the church.  I emphasized to the group that “one letter makes a difference,” and like my spelling analogies, how a letter written to someone could help create a major difference.  When I concluded, I shared with a group another verse from the Bible (Philipians 4:6-7), and told them about how a simple letter could help someone who's going through some hardship.  I then wrote on the board the word “BITTER,” and then replaced the “I” with an “E” to re-emphasize one letter makes a difference.
  
  I share this story now because we currently live in a day and age of email, sms, and evites.  The art of letter writing is a dying art form.  Yes, I agree that we could be as eloquent on email as we could in a letter, but I believe that a handwritten letter adds a dimension more than something that's typed and spellchecked on a screen and then sent to “whoever @ wherever dot com.”  In other words, if Individual A sent an eloquent and specific email to Individual B, it doesn't hold the same weight had A handwritten and sent it to B.   Why?  I think it's because fonts are uniform.  We all share Times New Roman and Arial.  It doesn't matter if we change the font, it does not replace the individual uniqueness of the handwriting from the sender.  Yes, an email is more convenient, time saving, cost effective.  But that's what adds more value to something handwritten.  The writer did take the time and effort in order to express how much they care or feel. 
  
  Over this past weekend, I was challenged on what I could do in order to make a difference in other lives.  Initially I did not come to any conclusive answer.  But as I write this now, I know:  Say what you feel and feel what you say… on paper…with your own writing…send it to someone…allow the magic of a handwritten letter transform someone. 
  
  …after all…
  
  ONE LETTER MAKES A DIFFERENCE!   

  And of course, I sent a handwritten postcard to the president a short time afterwards thanking him for taking the time of his busy schedule to meet with me.  (True to my words)  Later in October 2007, I received a letter saying that I got into the programme.  Then I went through a very lengthy and challenging process of getting a long term student status visa through the Singaporean government.  (Long story later) 

  I say all this because reading my previous entry and reading Professor Pausch's The Last Lecture reinforced what I said in my writing sample.  If you read The Last Lecture, (which I highly recommend) Chapter 41 is all about the handwritten "thank you" note.  And I do agree with him that it has become a "lost art." In fact, I'll venture out to say that ANY handwritten note has become a lost art. 

  Wait...

  I did venture out and said that. 

  One + year ago. 

  • 4:47 pm
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