My best friend and I write each other notes on a weekly basis. We have since freshman year of high school. I write her name fancy at the top and fill the page with things ranging from my thoughts to our weekend plans, ending it with a heart and a signature.
After eight years of writing each other letters, sometimes multiple times a day, I have stacks and stacks. Some were clearly given more effort than others, but it’s the sentiment they come with that matters. I cannot express how it feels to have these notes.
In a time where your friends, family and loved ones are a call or text away, I challenge you to write them a letter. Stick it in an envelope, put a stamp in the corner and drop it in your mailbox. For many of you, this will probably mean purchasing stamps and envelopes. Maybe even paper and pens, but I hope that’s not what your life has come to. In the, hopefully, slim chance you are unsure of how to address an envelope and stamp it this should be of help.
It seems that letter writing has become a lost art. We have endless technologies that allow us to get a message to someone in an instant so it’s not surprising we choose to send texts and emails instead. The world cannot simply revert back to letter writing as a primary way of communication and collectively throw their smartphones into the nearest recycling bin. Yes, you should recycle your electronics but that is not my point here. Can you imagine a world with no handwriting?
It is scary to think that may be where we’re headed. Writing letters is something we can do to make sure handwriting never vanishes. And it’s not just to preserve handwriting but also to bring back what was once a basic form of communication that, in one of the simplest ways, can capture who we are. There is something so great about the written letter that makes whatever you have to say personal in a way that couldn’t be captured from typed words. Society is obsessed with instant gratification, which takes away the appeal of letters but at the same time makes them special.
When is the last time you sent someone a birthday card rather than posting on their Facebook wall? Or sent your family a letter to let them know how you’re doing? What about those of you in a long distance relationship?
As a society, we should bring back letter writing. Not as a basic form of communication, I realize we are far past this. We should send each other letters to preserve handwriting and a once basic form of communication.
Think of all the letters you could write. Go ahead and start writing, I’ve started a list for you:
A Love Letter
An Angry Letter
A Thank You Letter
A Birthday Letter
A Passive-Aggressive Roommate Letter
