When was the last time you received a letter in the mail? No, I don't mean a letter from your bank or anything telling you that a payment is due. I mean a real letter, something that someone took the time to write and send to you. If your answer is anytime within the past several months, you find yourself in a rather narrow pool. Mailing letters is a form of communication that has gone down a fairly steep popularity slope.
Whenever I, or anyone I know, receive a letter from home, everyone comments on how nice it is to have family who writes. Or they make some comment about how much they love getting letters and often enjoy writing them. So that got me thinking: why don't people write more often? Everyone loves finding a letter in the mail, and the general consensus seems to be they're fun to write. And yet, hardly anyone writes or receives letters.
After a bit of pondering on why this could be, the best explanation is that it takes too much time. As college students, our days are full of class, meetings (so many meetings), working out, homework (hello library), eating (probably too much), and sleeping (maybe). Doesn't leave too much time for letter-writing. Similarly, anyone outside of college is just as busy with work, spending time with family, etc. It often takes a good deal of time and thought to sit down and put pen to paper to compose a letter to someone.
However, there is another reason -- related to time -- why people may not be writing. Is it that people really don't have the time to write a letter, or is it that they do not want to take the time to write one?
Why bother spending at least 20 minutes, usually a lot longer, to write -- or even type -- something that looks like this?
...when you can just pull out your phone and type one of the following.
I won't argue that writing letters is more convenient than texting. It isn't. It does take longer to do and takes longer to get there. But, when it does get to its recipient, he or she knows just how much time was put into it and almost certainly feels a greater degree of appreciation than if there was a new message on their cell phone.
There is something special about seeing handwritten words flow across a page that just doesn't happen when reading a text. We can keep texts very short, but no one writes a letter just to say "dinner at 6?" In a letter you can write as much as you want, about anything that you want, and there's no little box in the corner telling you how many characters you are allotted.
Aside from being a treat for the letter recipient, it's fun for the writer as well. Writing letters gives you the chance to take a break from whatever else is going on and tell someone a "story." Maybe you're writing to a person you don't see too often so your story is about what you've been up to (in lots of detail so they feel like they were there). Or maybe you're writing to tell someone how much they mean to you. Sure, you could send a text, but it really wouldn't be the same. You could also say it in person, but with a letter they have the chance to read those words again and again and can keep it as a constant reminder. Or you could come up with a story off the top of your head to entertain the person. Whatever your reason for writing, it will provide an escape for you as well as make their day when the letter arrives.
Our words have the power to do so much. Why not give them in a way that will never be erased, never be forgotten? You don't have to worry about your phone breaking or you memory not being able to recall what someone said. I suppose there is a chance the letter will get lost, but people tend to hold onto things that matter to them. Someday, years in the future, you can go through old letters and laugh, cry, or both at the memories they bring you.
To all of you reading this, I issue a challenge. Write a letter. It doesn't have to be some five-page short story. It doesn't even have to be a full page. Just pick a person, friend or family, and write something to them. If you're totally stuck on who to write to, you can look up addresses to send letters to soldiers or children all over the world that you can write a nice message to if you wish. You'll be making someone's day, and who knows? Maybe you'll get one.
