SOS. Print is dead and so is our creativity.

Okay, so print is not actually dead and creativity is also alive and well. But, as we swim deeper into the digital media age of texts, emails, and connecting on social networks, we begin turning up our noses to anything that isn’t instantaneous. We’re missing out on snail mail.

I don’t want to completely go back to full-fledged “wait 5 to 7 business days to learn about anything important,” but sending a hand-scrawled letter here and there also wouldn’t be too bad. Put pen to paper and send a note to your friend you haven’t seen in a while. Physically writing and watching the words build up on the paper is seriously satisfying, really.

Draw doodles on the margin, write in long-flowy letters, and smudge up the page. Take the time to send your thoughts to someone.

Unplug and unwind. Feel how the pen glides across the page and notice how your handwritten alphabet letters never look exactly the same.

Follow the spark of an idea. Let your creativity take over and physically manifest itself on the page. It’s harder to erase on paper than to delete on a computer screen. The words are gone, but they’re also still kind of always there. It holds you accountable to all of your thoughts—not just your best ones.

I want piles of letters in my desk drawer that aren’t particularly important, but nevertheless, equally special. I want to have to think twice before throwing one away, rather than clicking the delete button and removing weeks worth of messages in a second. I want letters that show how words really mean something, once in a while.

So send snail mail just because.

Not all the time, but when you’re really feeling like doing something different. I love instantly receiving replies from my professors and updates about my dogs, but I also think there’s something to be said about finding an envelope in your mailbox addressed specifically to you. Keep the creativity alive, and send a heart-felt and messy letter via snail mail.