In our current day-in-age, there is an abundance of communication. More communicating is happening than ever before. People are tweeting, posting pictures, and texting every hour of every day. We are inundated with info about what everyone is doing and who they are with through apps like Snapchat and Instagram. We don’t miss a beat because if anything crazy happens, we are immediately alerted. Even though we remain constantly in touch, I question if we are losing the thoughtfulness in our communication with others?
There seems to be a demanding attitude towards texting and interacting on apps. People often say, “Why haven’t you texted me back?” or, “Check your snap chat, I sent you something”. There seems to be this constant need to be up to date, to see every post, every status and to respond to every text. There is a sense of urgency and a demand from people to keep updated with every detail of everyone’s lives. This can be overwhelming, time consuming, and can take away from our own lives.
If we flash back to life before the computer and cell phones, the only way to communicate was to talk to people face-to-face, call them on their home phone, or send them a letter. Receiving letters from friends and family was something exciting. People waited all day for to see if they received anything in the mail. This form of communication is so organic and thoughtful. It wasn’t a chore, and it wasn’t stressful or demanding. Communication did not consist of half-thought out responses sent while doing something else. Communicating with others was truly valued and cherished.
Letter writing is an art, and connecting with others in this way is important. Writing letters helps us to slow down, really be intentional with our words, and take our time communicating. It is something that the recipient gets giddy over and who wouldn’t want to bring that joy to someone else?
There’s something special about receiving mail and knowing that someone took the time to write you a letter. This lost art brings us back to the roots of communication and reminds us of what a gift it is-to be able to express to others our thoughts on a page.
Don’t get me wrong, texting is convenient, and useful a lot of the time. It would be tedious and ineffective for us to only write letters. However, what I think we should do is integrate it where we can. Maybe write letters to our grandparents on their birthdays, send notes home to mom and dad and write letters to friends for no reason at all; just because we were thinking of them. We have the opportunity to make ordinary life moments special, and I think we should!
Just because we live in a fast-pace world that is constantly communicating doesn’t mean we should lose this form of art and way of intentionality. We should bring back the beauty and privilege of communication through writing. Who knows? You might make someone’s day when they get that letter in the mail.
So don’t hesitate! Get out there and start writing those letters!
