I spent the week writing letters. It’s not an unusual thing, to write words of encouragement, especially to people you know and care about. But mine were unusual, because I wasn’t writing to people I knew. I spent the week writing letters… to strangers.

Hannah Brencher, a New Yorker, in a time of loneliness and depression, began writing letters and leaving them for people in every spot she could. She eventually reached out on her blog, asking people if they needed someone to write a letter for them. Three years and hundreds of letters later, More Love Letters is the “only global organization out there that blesses individuals -- young and old -- with bundles of love letters during a time in need.”

I heard about the project through OU’s Campus Cursive chapter, an organization of More Love Letters encouraging college students all over the world to spread love. I adored the idea, but I didn’t have the time to commit to another organization. I therefore decided to use my own time to try writing letters. It wasn’t easy. I was afraid of messing up, of not saying the right thing, worrying that I would somehow fail at showing kindness the way More Love Letters encourages us to. Then I had a thought: what would I hope someone would say to me if I received a letter? And it became so simple after that.

I think it’s so easy for us to single out our hardships and challenges, imagining that we are solely alone in getting through those trials, that no one else would possibly understand. Writing letters to people I didn’t know gave me a new perspective. I write words of general encouragement, of love and light, of support that I hope the reader recognizes he or she has, even in people they have never met. I write words I would say to a close friend. I write words for people I wish nothing but the best for, and leaving those letters makes my heart happy, for I am left with the idea that I may make someone’s day or week better, that I quite possibly could bring a smile to their face when they really need something to smile about. I write words for people I care about, because I have found that although I do not know who finds them, I care about them all the same.

I urge you to write a letter. A handwritten letter. Send it to a parent, a friend, a sibling, a cousin. Snail mail is the best mail, for it shows that you took the time to be personal, and to receive those letters is nothing short of wonderful. It is an art that must not die. If you’re feeling bold, I urge you to write a letter to a stranger. The world needs kindness, and your words can go such a long way. It’s fun; the process of leaving your love in a coat pocket, on a chair, in a library book, making sure no one is looking as you do so. Not only will it change the day of the person who receives it, it will change your day, even your week, as you think about that letter, as you think about that person and wonder how they are. You can’t help but hope they are doing well, you can’t help but want the world for them.

Everyone needs kindness in his or her life. To be reminded that they are loved, that they are wonderful, brilliant, and beautiful people. We can’t possibly be told that enough. Share your love, and show a stranger that we are all enough just as we are.

For more information and inspiration, check out http://www.moreloveletters.com