Fast texters & elevator holders

Hey friends,

This week, I discovered the joy of just being. Literally, just sitting around with nice company and doing nothing. Freshman year Caroline would not have chosen to do this, let alone enjoyed it. She would have been itching the entire time to do something “productive.” But senior year Caroline has learned the value of placing productivity on hold every now and then and meditating in the sweetness of stalled time.

Ok, senior year Caroline also thinks it’s time to stop talking about herself in the third person.

Ok, I’m back. Teehee.

🥺 Fast texters are the best

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but STS is spreading rapidly these days. Slow-texter syndrome, I mean. Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve become quite used to waiting days to receive texts back. Obviously, there are many valid reasons for delaying replies (and I myself display symptoms of STS from time to time). And of course, texting speed is not a proxy for a person’s character.

But I have recently discovered the loveliness of fast texters. Fast texters make you feel like you matter. They respect your time, which I appreciate so much.

My theory is that people don’t text back quickly because they feel like that’s a “weird” thing to do. Efficient communication has somehow been tainted with the reputation of “desperation” or “neediness.” And where do we get this perception? From the people we’ve texted that take days or even weeks to respond, making us feel that rapid responses stray from the norm. Alas, we find ourselves in a positive feedback loop of long-distance back-and-forths—stalled time, if you will, but this time in a not-so-enjoyable context.

Same goes for emails. We all know how email chains can lead to massive delays, especially when there’s no hard deadline involved. Fast communication can help eliminate the minor uncertainties and headaches that add up over time.

I will say that one reason I sometimes take longer to reply is that I’m waiting for inspiration to hit. You know when you mark an email unread because you need time to craft the perfect response? It’s a give-or-take between “time elapsed” and “quality of writing.” You’d think that as the former increases, the latter will increase proportionally. This might be the case in an ideal world, but based on experience, it’s probably better to respond right away to avoid the risk of forgetting later on. 😅

Anywho, I just wanted to say thank you to all the fast texters in my life. Thank you for respecting my time and teaching me to respect others’ time. And thanks for helping to cure my STS. 😊

🙏 To the person who held the elevator doors...

Thank you, good sir. That was very kind of you.

It was around 9 pm on a Friday night. I had just gone for a swim in Uris Pool (lowest level of Dodge Gym at Columbia). I was coming out of the locker room and saw that someone had gone into the elevator. I wasn’t sure if he saw me. Even if he did, I had expected him to not give it a second thought.

But.

The elevator doors didn’t close after the usual amount of time, so I started walking faster. And I realized: “Aw, he’s holding the door for me!” It’s these small acts of kindness and very human actions that make someone’s day. So thank you! I appreciate you!

🎬 Latest Uploads

I’m already reminiscing about my last college orientation at Columbia, but also excited for what the future holds. Senior year has been great so far, so fingers crossed! ❤️

Can you believe it’s already Episode 21 of the podcast? In this episode, I’m joined by creative soul Kristian Woerner, a senior at Columbia studying Architecture (and Anthropology!). Fun fact: Kristian was my Orientation Leader during my first year of college! After taking a gap year, he is now back in action and set to graduate next spring. Tune in to learn about artistic visions, major requirements, and life as a college creative in NYC! 🙂 

🎵 Latest Bops

I’ve been listening to Hannah Montana & Camp Rock in my room these days. On repeat. And also country T-Swift. But here’s a new song that I’ve been enjoying.

NIKI - Every Summertime

I didn’t know it was NIKI before checking the artist’s name on my phone. But her musical prowess is just mwah, so I shouldn’t have been surprised. 😍

That’s it for this issue. In this last paragraph of my appreciation post, I wanted to thank you, kind reader. It makes me really happy that you’re here reading this, right now. Thank you for being invested in my writing, and I hope you’re able to gain value from it, as well. As always, cheers to being inbox buddies!

❤️ Caroline

P.S. If you have any feedback/comments for me, please reply to this email or contact me on my website: carolinechen.me. I’m always happy to hear your thoughts on content, what you find useful, and what can be improved with some “re-thinking.” :D