Loving the Letter

Photo found here.

Over the past few months I have gotten back into a long-neglected habit - letter-writing. Although my laptop and I are attached at the hip, when I am interacting with friends I prefer to do so without technology getting in the way. For instance, when I'm out for dinner with a group I (perhaps annoyingly) scold those who have their phones out at the table - a huge pet peeve of mine. I prefer phonecalls over texts, and face to face visits most of all, if possible, but the reality of my life at the moment is that my parents, siblings and many of my close friends live in other provinces or countries and communicating through technology often seems like the best option. 

While I still make (frequent) use of email, skype, text and calls to communicate with faraway friends and family members, I began to think about how much joy it brings to me, personally, when I receive a handwritten letter in the mail. I love letters because they are each something special that a dear friend or loved one has sat down to write - putting pen to paper. A missive for which one must find or buy a stamp, and subsequently track down a letter box or post office to send that little note over the land or through the air and over the sea to find its way into a mailbox, and the happy hands of the recipiant.When I thought about how happy I was upon receipt of such tangible notes, I thought that returning to good old-fashioned letter writing could be a good way to show love, share encouragement, or even just give a happy update to the people in my life.

With that in mind, I ordered some pretty Kate Spade stationery, picked up some of my favourite pens, and started writing. To some friends, who I knew were going through tough periods, I would write weekly letters. To others, a quickly jotted note here, a fun postcard there. And more and more I realized, from the responses to these simple communications - just how much a hand-written letter can brighten someone's day. So I've kept it up. Ideally? I would love for all of my friends and family members to have a little stockpile of letters like the one pictured above, letting them know that I am thinking of them, caring, supporting and loving them. That they can keep and look back on when skies are cloudy or grey. Perhaps I am a bit romantic in my vision of aged paper wrapped in ribbons, stored away in steamer trunks kept in attics - how magical! But in seriousness, I really do believe that showing intentional investment in friends and family can only have positive results - and I have certainly seen many of those so far.

In any case, my stockpile of pretty stationery supplies continues to grow (if you ever want to know what to get me as a gift, hint hint), and I've already had to replace a few pens that had worn dry after spilling out word after word. My next goal? Improve the quality of my "art" of letter writing with a few tips from the pros.  

If any of you are keen to find a colourful envelope and a happy letter in your mailbox, send me an email with your address and you just might find one! Pen pals welcome! 

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