Handwritten Letters

Dear Friends, Family, and whoever else is reading these words.

It’s time to change the world! For the better this time! I am serious.

I propose a challenge for everyone to write handwritten letters again.

Do you remember those? The letters? The time when friends and family in different cities would write letters to stay in touch. To say happy birthday. Those were the good days as a kid. It was always a nice surprise to find a letter from an old friend in the mailbox. I recall my short walks from my front door to my mailbox down the street, particularly around my birthday, and having the notion that I might be receiving a letter in the mail from my grandparents. Seriously, it was a happy moment in time for me. Of course I was also excited about the crisp $20 bill arriving in the mail as well, but that’s not my point. My point is handwritten letters are really nice to receive.

Unfortunately nowadays, my trip to the mailbox is more about keeping my mailbox free of junk mail and flyers that I never wanted in the first place. What gives? Let’s bring the romance back to writing letters.

You know, there’s this whole infatuation with retro and analog, but I feel like handwritten letters are just getting the short end of the stick. Photographers love their film cameras. Gamers love their 8 bit systems. But what about the writers? I suppose some of us might still be using typewriters and ribbons, but even those aren’t necessary for a letter to a friend. I’m serious. For the price of a cup of coffee you could make someone else feel a bit better for the day. There’s no hurt in that! In fact, it’s nearly a guaranteed smile!

I’m not saying to stop emailing or anything like that as email definitely has its benefits (how else do you share that YouTube cat clip?), but why not return to the writing of letters, selecting a stamp, and then dropping it off in the mailbox. There’s life to it.

I feel like email has lost its flair. So much of today’s jobs are so reliant on email that it just becomes a tool we use for work and not for pleasure. We receive hundreds of emails a week from subscriptions and stores selling us something that, honestly, I don’t even like checking email anymore. It’s more of a chore to just empty out all the crap that I received in the last hour, so I can make sure my inbox has enough space for the crap that I’m going to receive in the next hour! Ugh! Enough!

Anyway, that’s just what I’m thinking about. It doesn’t really take that much of an effort to write a letter.. Grab some lined paper. Grab a pen. Pull up your address book. Pick a friend. Write a letter. Grab a stamp. Mail the letter. Done and done.

Sincerely,

Andy

P.S. I will now step off my soapbox until tomorrow.