A few years ago, I started writing letters to one of my dear uncles, my Uncle Karl. I don’t remember the conversation we had that started it all, but it must have had a significant impact on me. We started writing letters in high school and have continued this tradition through my junior year of college, and will keep it going probably long after I graduate.

Every time I receive a letter from my Uncle Karl, it makes me think about letters, words, syllables, transitions, and the way they affect what we are trying to say. I think about this a lot, because I am constantly writing for class or for the Odyssey or for my school’s newspaper. Not a day goes by that I am not thinking about what I am writing down in one way or another.

But then I think about these letters. My uncle takes the time to sit down and write what he is thinking about and he shares those thoughts with me. I imagine him sitting at the table, carefully putting together each sentence making sure he is conveying the exact feelings he wants to come across. I imagine the pen hitting the paper. I imagine him sealing the envelope and walking to the mailbox. That’s funny, walking to the mailbox. These days, the mailbox is on our computers or in our smartphones, there is no walking involved. All that it takes to send a letter these days is some typing and a few clicks. Your letter is sent into cyberspace where it undergoes a small and insignificant journey to your receiver.

There’s nothing special or exciting about sending an e-mail. You don’t feel the paper. You don’t see the tears that dropped and left stains. You don’t see any traces of food that dropped. There is no emotion in an e-mail, no matter how many smiley faces you use, there is none.

When you receive a letter, you fully accept the fact that you have received a piece of paper that has gone on it’s own journey. You fully accept the fact that the letter may take you on a journey as well. But you also know that the words in the letter are what’s important. You are listening to someone else’s journey of life, their stories, their thoughts, their questions.

When you receive a letter, take good care of it. You are receiving something that most people take for granted. Most people would miss it if it was right between their eyes. You are receiving a part of that person’s heart and a part of their soul. It’s also the kind of gift that we don’t receive too often especially in a world now controlled by cellphones and laptop screens.

Letters. They are so much stronger than we think. They are so much more meaningful than we realize. They are simply amazing and simply humbling all at the same time.

Letters. Give them a chance. Sit down and write to someone you love or to someone you care for. Let your hands do the work but let your heart guide you. Allow the thoughts that you most truly desire to flow through your mind and down your arm into your fingers.