I used to really get into these. I mean, I read almost every open letter to pop on my screen. I thought, "How beautiful is it that I can connect with a few thousand other strangers because we share this one, common struggle?"
At first, my open letter obsession centered around love and loss, as we all can relate to feeling like no one likes us.
"An Open Letter To My First Love"
"An Open Letter To The One Who Got Away"
"An Open Letter to The Guy Who Broke My Heart"
I also really got into those letters about independent women doing their own thing, but having feelings too.
"An Open Letter To The Alpha Female With A Broken Heart"
"An Open Letter To Independent Women Who Know How To Laugh"
"An Open Letter To The Business Woman Inside Of Us All"
I liked reading letters about things that seemed like contradictions because you know how much us millennials love contradictions...
"An Open Letter To The Friend Who Wasn't Really My Friend"
"An Open Letter To The Conservative Democrat"
"An Open Letter To The Worst And Best Time Of My Life"
Please stahp.
Open letters are vague, void of meaning, and meant to make people feel connected over the minute details of their lives. Sometimes I'll read one just to see if it is interesting, and I'll find that I want to slap someone. They are overused, over generalizing, and honestly, I can't read one without harshly judging my fellow man.
Why do we have to express our feelings through open letters and the sharing of them? Can we not just be open and honest about how we feel about certain situations and communicate with one another? Have we really come to a point where we feel like the best way of expressing our feelings is to write a vague, semi-relatable post for the world to see and hopefully appreciate? What are we so deeply lacking in our lives that we feel like we must find an article to describe us?
Maybe I'm just upset because I think our culture relies to heavily on the Internet to express ourselves. I wonder if posting something on my feed is just another way for me to express certain thoughts or feelings that I'm not capable of verbalizing. I wonder if all of these letters are a huge cry for help and attention. We sit next to our peers and rather than talk, we Snapchat, text, and check our emails. Maybe open letters are the way we feel like we can connect to our peers. And maybe that needs to change.
Not all open letters are bad. Not all writers of open letters are writing for a sense of belonging or a lack of emotional communication skills. Some are pretty good. What concerns me is that my feed is flooded with what seems like empty words, an attempt at finding connections and deeper meaning in the relationships we have.
I wonder why we can't just communicate with one another like normal people while still enjoying the entertainment and information the Internet can provide. I wonder if we can ever find that balance again.
