As my transition to another career has begun, I was tidying up my email accounts and stumbled upon this email that I wrote to my former colleagues at RSI. It is a poignant reminder of the sentiments that number the pages of the story of my life as yet another is about to be turned.
Written on 21 March 2007.
Dear Friends,
Eight months to the day I first met all of you, it's time to bid you farewell, as a colleague. Eight months precisely: the Chinaman in me thinks it bodes rather auspiciously. (That "2103" failed to garner me First Prize in last week's draw is secondary.)
While I do not subscribe to luck, neither do I discount it. But in the grander scheme of things, perhaps "Providence" lends itself as a more accurate term in describing how I feel about my opportunity to have gotten to know each of you. Life is not linear, but an intricate web of relationships. I never fail to wonder at how on audition day, the first two fellow candidates I met were actually Loretta and Mubin. Serendipity.
The first time I met each of you, my immediate thought was: must be Photoshop! I had, of course, seen each of your portraits on the website prior to joining and was looking forward to working with rather more... er, photogenic colleagues. :) I kid, of course! Each of you really is beautiful in your own way. (Yes, even Jack.) That I do not kid.
Eight months on a job is way too short when you get to spend it with people whose company you thoroughly enjoy; people whose acts of kindness, sense of humour, graciousness and generosity of spirit (except maybe when it comes to the upstairs Dalet system) drain each day of drudgery and fill it with bonhomie. And in spite of the typical complaints we typical Singaporeans are wont to indulge in, we know there's something truly unique and good going on here: a splendid confluence of wonderful individuals. Treasure it. You only begin to truly appreciate what you are about to miss. Yes, eight months among friends really is too short. (Yes, even with Jack.) But it is long enough to refine your understanding of what your calling in life is and what it isn't.
Switching careers wasn't an easy decision, of course. It was a choice sometimes reigned in by realities but always spurred on by ideals. In that tug-of-war, I learnt that sometimes we impose our own insecurities on the people we care about the most. But true fulfillment lies within the daring embrace of that restless tension between ideals and realities. Personal growth after all, is determined by the willingness to move out of one's comfort zone. Thank you, each of you, for your kind words of encouragement. I truly appreciate them.
I have been touched by each of you over the past eight months and will carry fond memories with me always.
Finally, if I had done anything within the past eight months to offend or vex you, I apologize and ask your pardon. And if I had done anything worthy of commendation, I ask that you may remember me kindly for it and allow that to define our friendship from here on. I have enjoyed your company immensely and will miss each of you terribly! (Of course, even Jack.)
Very sincerely yours,
Joel
No comments:
Post a Comment