I am against open letters of appreciation.

I know, it sounds silly. A millennial girl that is against a big internet trend, crazy right?

Don’t get me wrong, they’re nice to share and tag people in, but I don’t think that an open letter to your best friend, a parent, a former teacher, etc., can get the point fully across. An open letter can give a smile on a phone. An open letter can be a nice reminder that somebody is thinking of you. But the thing is, they are making thousands of people feel that same way. They don’t mean as much as they could. They aren’t personal. When somebody scrolls to the bottom, they know it’s not really meant just for them when they see 235k shares and a bunch of comments tagging others. I believe that everybody deserves their own special message.

You don’t have to have a way with words to write your own letters. Just write your heart down and don’t be afraid of what it might say. It’s okay to be scared to show somebody how much you really do care, especially if you’re telling somebody who doesn’t know how much you mean to them, but that may be the time that it is most important. Your words will matter to whoever you hand a letter to. Nobody is ever going to doubt whether or not you really mean it. The open letter will be lost as easily as it was shared. Posts will bury it among millions of others. They will be forgotten. They will be seen by thousands of pairs of eyes until people don’t bother to stop and read it anymore. That will never happen with a hand written letter of appreciation. It is so special to be able to see your name on a letter and have it signed by somebody who loves you. It is heart warming to hold somebody’s words in your hands and know that they meant every single syllable.

Nobody in their right mind would toss a letter out or bury it deep down. Chances are they will read it over dozens of times, where as an open letter gets clicked on once and it's gone.

Don't miss the opportunity to give somebody appreciation that they can hold onto and that they can really feel. You'll be surprised at how much more it can mean to a person. I hope that when you close this post, you will grab a pen and paper and tell somebody why they matter. It might be the most important thing you do today.