With today’s digital world, you often hear of the dying art form of writing a note or sending a letter. Usually when we are thinking of someone and want to check in we just send a few short words and a small emoji that appears in a small bubble on someone else’s screen.

But what would happen if you found a piece of paper, even if it was just a scrap, and sat down to write a note? I am sure if you found yourself seated someplace instead of quickly typing a few generic words you would realize that you have a lot more to say.

I get it though, writing a note does take time and if you want to send it, you have to find an envelope, the person’s address, and a stamp. It’s a much more involved process. Even though I am a huge proponent of writing notes and letters I do find myself deferring to the ease of sending a text, or if I am feeling quite ambitious, an email when I am thinking of someone.

But in these instances, I think of how excited I get when I get something in the mail that isn’t another piece of junk or a bill. Someone thought to write to me and I love taking a moment out of my day to break the seal of the envelope to read and re-read the note someone took the time to send me.

A friend and I were recently having a conversation (admittedly this was over text) about how she likes to leave gifts for people to discover and then the person on the receiving end will come find her or contact her to share their reaction to whatever she has given them.

This also got us to the point of how we are both much more eloquent in our writing when it comes to writing about emotions and sentimental things. If you put these two points together, you get the art of note and letter writing.

A note is a small gift you leave or send for someone to discover and it’s a way, at least for my friend and I to eloquently share a whole host of emotions that we have for a person or an event.

Another thing the two of us related to was saving the notes we had written or the ones we had received to hold on to and cherish.

Each note I get goes into a pale pink box. When you lift the lid to the box a colorful collage of birthday cards, mixed in with scraps of colored paper or just a sheet out of a notebook are revealed. I love pulling this box out every now and again when I need a little pick me up or a smile on a not so great day.

On the outside of this box, there is a small paper label that distinguishes this as no ordinary storage bin. That slip of paper is the Spanish word, “Palanca.” In Spanish Palanca means “lever.”

But at my high school on a retreat we call Palanca notes from friends, family members, and loved ones that you receive when you go on this retreat. These notes are meant to be levers for you, to lift you up and to show you that you are loved.

So when you need to be lifted up, write a note to someone you care about. I find writing notes cathartic and it gives me a chance to sit down for a moment in my busy day to think and reflect. Hopefully someone will reciprocate back to you and send you a note in return.

Or even if it is a text saying how much they appreciated the note, you will know that you have made their day a little brighter.

And make sure you keep those, texts, emails or notes. Tuck them away and save them for a rainy day. If it is a text that makes you smile or is telling you how much you mean to someone, find a scrap of paper and write it down. If it is an email, print it out and save it. Digital notes are too easily lost but still worthy of being kept and remembered.

But take time to write and say, “I love you.” You never know what simple words on a piece of paper may do for a person’s day, or even their life.