I have loved to write letters since I learned how to read circa 1995! One of my aunts was kind enough to be my penpal (she lived two hours away, which required long distance calls … letters were cheaper). I still remember that feeling of excitement when my parents would arrive home from the post office with one of her letters! Those letters absolutely made my week. I’ve carried a strong enthusiasm for snail mail into adulthood, and today, I’d like to share the seven reasons that I continue to write letters.
1. You Can Enjoy a Digital Detox
Communication these days is incredibly easy. At this point in history, in particular, we rely on our devices to stay in touch. Facetime, phone calls, emails, and texts are keeping us connected during a time where we’re mostly staying at home. While I’m grateful that quick communication options exist, all that screen time starts to grate on my nerves after a couple of hours! If you also like to indulge in digital detoxes, you’ll love how writing a letter helps you to keep in touch without technological devices.
2. It’s Easy to Reconnect in a Considerate Way
Throughout the COVID-19 quarantine, I’ve been reconnecting with friends who I haven’t spoken to in years. The best way to reignite some of those relationships has been through letters. That’s because a text, phone call, or an email might be a little bit out of place. Our modern modes of communication tend to encourage an expedient response, which puts a bit of pressure on the recipient. A letter is a considerate and gentle way to reach out, especially if you’re coming out of the woodwork after a long time.
3. Write Letters for Tangible Memories
At the risk of making myself sound like a luddite, the problem with electronic messages is eventually they disappear. I mean, electronic messages are searchable, but they can be tedious to sift through if you’re not quite sure what you’re looking for. And there are compatibility questions … half a century from now, will we still be able to read today’s texts? Letters are one thing that you can count on for lasting memories! I have a box of letters dating back two decades, and I love to get it out every once in a while and reminisce.
4. You Can Personalize Letters in a Unique Way
When you communicate via text, you’re limited in ways to say what you want to say. Sure, you can make text bold or add an emoji, but there’s nothing like a hand-written letter to convey emotion! When you write a letter, you can switch up your writing style to emphasize things, make a little illustration of something you want to describe, or use your handwriting to (perhaps unintentionally) convey an emotional state in general. You can also curate the materials that you write on and customize your writing utensils!
5. Letters Make an Impression
I already mentioned that I remember letters fondly as a special part of my childhood! But, honestly, I don’t think that you have to be a certain age to love receiving letters. Now that I’m in my early 30’s, I still love getting snail mail! I’ve carried on my aunt’s tradition of sending the occasional letter to my little nieces in Kansas. They really enjoy the experience of receiving my letters, especially since I take care to include pretty little trinkets (like stickers and washi tape), and I write in short words that they can sound out.
6. You Can Send Little Gifts
One thing I love about snail mail is you don’t have to just send a letter! Your snail mail can include little goodies that will delight the recipient. For example, take a look at the photo below of everything that I included in my latest letter to a dear friend. The packet included a calligraphy ampersand, some magnets, a couple of recipes, a three-page letter, and a lovely envelope.
7. Writing Letters is Therapeutic
No matter what your situation, a quiet time-out is never out of place! At my house, I have a favorite letter-writing spot and time: in the corner of our basement couch, always in the evening before bed. With a rambunctious toddler keeping me on my toes, writing letters provides a welcome, relaxing retreat — one that my child lets me indulge in without protesting. (Now, if I’m on my laptop, that’s another story!) Once I finish a letter, I always get the contented feeling that I’ve had a conversation with a good friend.
If you’re confused about what to write in a letter, check out Elegant and Effective Letter Writing Tips article! The Art of Snail Mail article is pretty old, so its photos aren’t the best, but it’s also inspirational. Of course, The Letter Writer’s Complete Resource is fabulous for those who are excited to launch into writing organized, eye-catching letters to friends and family!
If you have input on sending snail mail, I’d love to hear from you in the comments! Some people absolutely love it, while others would prefer to stay in touch via text and emails. What do you think? I’m curious!
Warmly,
Hello Lindsey,
I came upon your blog today while doing a blog search for watercolors. Specifically your March 26, 2020 post.
Very informative and well written. Then I went and found your Facebook page, and from there the link to
this article on letters. I too had an aunt who lived several hours away and we used to write letter.
I had always loved snail mail. I truly learned the value and outright power of snail mail when my son entered the US Air Force in 2002.
In his bootcamp days, letters were the only form of communication. Afterwards he told me those letters were a LIFE LINE to all he had known, as his life felt so upside down in bootcamp. In his 1st letter home, he actually asked me not to write, because he cried the entire time through reading my letter. He did tell me that he read it over and over. He then said, KEEP on writing. Also when he was stationed in Iraq, we could send email, but there was a very real emotion and strength in him being able to SEE his Mama’s hand writing and read my words. He told me later that in reading letters, it felt as if I was speaking to him in my voice. THAT is POWER and COMFORT.
I also wanted to share a group that I have come across recently, it’s name is…. The World Needs More Love Letters.
The premise is that someone nominates a loved one or friend to receive Love Letters. The group picks out 4 or 6 individuals they share a bit of a background and then the mailing address of the person who will collect a bundle of letters to deliver to that person.
If a person is going through a down time or a struggle, can you even imagine the LIFT of having letters from strangers.
I would invite you to consider joining in, and perhaps promoting this very worthwhile group. Here is the web site,
and they also have a Facebook page.
I certainly look forward to following you on the blog and facebook.
Sincerely, Debra
I FORGOT the Link…
The World Needs More Love Letters
http://www.moreloveletters.com
Yes, writing a letter to someone especially in these days of lockdown is a wonderful way to make people feel connected!
Love that tree! Any chance of tutorials on how to do something like that?!
Thanks for bringing so much sunshine into everyone’s life with your blog posts!
Thank you for inspiring people, letters are a great way to connect. You can sit down with a cuppa and have a nice indulgent moment reading your letter. You do make me feel so old though, I had no idea you were in your mid twenties, learning to read in 1995 is so recent! Still it’s a marvellous skill and letters are great, apparently the US Postal Service is struggling and this is a great way to keep them afloat and there are some wonderful and rather naught stamps being produced by various unlikely people at the moment. Sounds like something to really get behind.
Definitely makes my top ten posts (: You inspired me to do snail mail a couple of years ago, and it couldn’t have turned out more fun. Now my friends are learning calligraphy, and we try to outdo each other with mail art!
Thanks for all of the tutorials, inspiration, and freebies. Please know I appreciate the effort that goes into making all of them (: