Tet is for slow living

(Dan Tri) - Slow down a little, please! Can we hold hands a little longer? Tell each other about the little things we see on the street instead of news or stories about other people's families.

Once upon a time, a long time ago, people mainly rode bicycles. The most accidents on the road were just swollen heads, sprained ankles, and scratched limbs. At the very fastest, it took a month to hold hands, let alone kiss. People taught each other: Chew well, plow deep, and you'll be full for a long time. Do everything really slowly. Love each other for a long time. Children could play a game day after day, month after month, without getting bored. There was a book that had to be read over and over again, all the way to the info section, where it was printed, and what date it was filed. Why was everything so precious back then? Now, it can't be slowed down anymore! Everything is fast. So fast it's dizzying. Eat fast. Sleep fast. Live fast. Get bored easily. Some things that were just yesterday are already cold today. Newspapers are abandoned, no one wants to read news from 24 hours ago when the news is updated in real time. I'm eating, you can see it directly. People can't slow down anything. The slow die. Die because others trample them in their race. People only slow down when they are... stuck in traffic. And when there is a traffic jam, people still weave through it, climb onto the sidewalk, hold onto cars, yell at those blocking their way, curse those waiting at red lights.

Vendors walking on the streets during Tet (Photo: Nguyen Duc Nghiem).

I don't regret anything in the past! I don't condemn anything today! I just keep worrying that we've missed out on so many good things on our way. We rush our children to leave their childhood early, even earlier than when they were 5 years old, to practice English, writing, and calculating! We rush to be faster, to the point of forgetting to kiss each other when leaving home, to hurry up at night to catch up with the news through constantly updated Facebook statuses, forgetting that our spouses need a slow hug, need a peaceful lie next to each other. No one has even had time to look at the stars in the sky for a long time. No one cares whether the moon is full or not today. The flower pots on the porch have just bloomed brilliantly, but we can't see them. Slow down a little, please! Can we hold each other's hands a little longer? Tell each other about the little things we see on the street instead of news about robberies, murders, and rapes or stories about other people's families? Can we talk to our children without thinking? Can we laugh at innocuous things? Can we kiss slowly? Can we slow down a bit before saying anything when we're angry or blaming? Everything can be fast, but love should be slow! For what? So that the years that pass by will linger more instead of slipping away! So that we don't have to wait until we're too old and too weak to run before we can sit down and slowly be together! That's all! Please! Please!

Author: Writer - journalist Hoang Anh Tu was the Chief Editor of Vietnam Student Newspaper, known under the pen name "Anh Chanh Van" on Hoa Hoc Tro Newspaper from 2000 to 2010. He is currently a content creator with a large following on social networks.

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