No one writes letters anymore. No one says things like "I love you" unless it's their significant other. It's always "love ya" or "luv u," like it's a crime to be real with people. We’re afraid to show people that they mean something to us. We’re afraid to just do things for the people we love because maybe it’s unfair and they wouldn’t do the same.
We've lost our authenticity, and I guess it’s weird to hear that from a 19-year-old who grew up as the age of technology started to rise. However, we have, and once the authenticity is gone, we’re all the same robots using our phones as the main connection to one another.
That's why I write letters: because no one does it.
There's something more meaningful to writing your words physically down and mailing it than sending a quick text. I love the feeling of getting letter from someone. It's one of my favorite feelings, next to the feeling that the smell of a pipe brings, or the feeling at the Christmas Eve candlelight service. It feels good because it took effort. Think of how many times you're on your phone a day and how many times you send a text or snapchat. It doesn't feel special to be one of your many "streaks." That takes no effort, I promise you. My mom thought I'd have a problem making friends at college because I had streaks and would just be on my phone. I told her that it takes all of a minute to do. That must feel special, huh? To be a minute of someone's day, where they send the same mass snapchat to possibly 30 people.
But how about being the 15 minutes it takes to sit down and write out a one-page letter or even more? Being the time where they set their phone down and write to you instead? How about being the addressing of the envelope and the walk to your mailbox? Or the trek to the Post Office (thanks, Douglass)? Certainly, it seems better than being the eighth "hey" you sent today.
There was one friend when I was an underclassman that used to write me letters. If she saw I was upset, she’d write a letter about all the amazing things she saw in me. I kept that letter 'til this day because the feeling of receiving something like that couldn’t trump any feeling besides performing. She graduated and went on to do amazing things, so I flipped the role and became that person for my friends. I wanted to give that feeling to other people.
I've become known for writing letters. My friend gave me a letter writing kit to bring to school. I'm not far from home at all; it actually might seem like less of an effort to go home then to walk across campus to the University Post Office to figure out what address I even put on the envelope. It just goes back to being authentic. Handwritten, a few grammar mistakes, some scribbles, all of it. It's authentic. So, maybe I'm older for my age because I'd rather write a letter and hear your physical voice on the phone then send my location on Snapchat.
You don’t have to eloquent with words to write a good letter. Or have nice handwriting (trust me, mine's awful). Just telling someone about your day or what you’re doing around that time or how you’re feeling and asking them the same means a lot. It all just goes back to effort. And who knows? Maybe they’ll actually write you back. And that’s the best part.