I don’t believe it! The day I plan to write about the art of letter writing and my desire to bring it back I receive a handwritten welcome to the neighborhood card and letter in the post from some interested neighbors.
‘’We know that you are from the U.K. and that you compete in international athletics, and that you are a long jumper.” – an extract
I love receiving mail; actual real physical, in-my-hand, rip-open mail! None of this email click, skim-read and ignore or click and delete/mark as spam mail – I love the real stuff. Do you know what handwritten letters say to me? More than the content that they contain, I already feel love, kindness and respect. A handwritten letter speaks to me of a personal connection that you cannot have over a quick few typed paragraphs and easy-click ‘send’. I love and I thank God for the internet, email, Whatsapp, Facebook, Twitter, etc. I love the idea of being more connected than ever. But as I also mentioned in a previous post, sometimes we truly do need to disconnect to reconnect; to be fully engaged.
And when I receive a handwritten letter, I know the person on the other end really has disconnected with the outside world and personally connected with me for those few minutes it took to write in pen a letter I will treasure.
Do you remember pen pals? I had a pen pal in Germany when I was growing up who I wrote to every few months. I always feel disappointed that we both did not maintain that connection. But I think we eventually got bored of writing by hand when computers and other distractions surfaced. And perhaps she moved. Or perhaps I moved home? Whatever happened, we disconnected. I can’t even remember her name…
But I have never even met these particular neighbors? I have met one or two others and the only words I ever said to them were: “Kristi isn’t home” or “I’ll let her know you stopped by.” So it is thoughtful that they wanted to make the effort to connect through this medium. Perhaps they stopped by and knocked on a handful of times with no response. Or perhaps they are old-fashioned and obviously not having my email nor mobile number chose to put a letter in the mailbox. Whatever the case, I greatly appreciate it. Their card and letter made me smile.
![IMG_0008 [53069147]](https://i0.wp.com/abigailirozuru.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/img_0008-53069147.jpg?w=422&h=392&ssl=1 "IMG_0008 [53069147]")
![IMG_0009 [53069149]](https://i0.wp.com/abigailirozuru.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/img_0009-53069149.jpg?w=395&h=392&ssl=1 "IMG_0009 [53069149]")
Who do you want to reconnect with today?
You may not have seen or spoken to that person for a long while, but they’ve popped into your mind. You may even have a new neighbor on your street who needs a special, personal welcome! Pick up a pen and paper and start writing! Or if you want to make it fancy, why not go to the store to pick up some lovely writing paper and envelopes. Show somebody your love and appreciation by sending an unexpected letter through the post! (Leave the email alone for today!) Who will you write to today?
![IMG_7426 [53069157]](https://i0.wp.com/abigailirozuru.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/img_7426-53069157.jpg?resize=825%2C1100&ssl=1)
“And when I receive a handwritten letter, I know the person on the other end really has disconnected with the outside world and personally connected with me for those few minutes it took to write in pen a letter I will treasure.” —This particularly spoke to me! My class is about to enroll in an “Adopt-a-Soldier” program in which we will be sending 4 letters a month to a deployed soldier. The students in my class had a hard time understanding why a soldier, who does not know us and will never meet us, would be thankful to receive some plain old letters from us. You have summed it up brilliantly! You know, I also had pen pals growing up and I remember being so excited to send and receive mail from them. I still have my letters from 15 years ago and they act as a journal of both of our lives at the time. When Facebook came around, we all friended each other and stopped writing. Even though it was exciting to see real pictures of people I had been talking to for years, I found myself missing that connection that came through letter-writing. I’ve often wanted to find a snail mail pen pal program for adults, but have not been able to find any reputable ones!
You should start up a pen pal association! I’m sure you would be surprised the amount of people who would like to participate in the program. I really love the sound of the ‘Adopt-A-Soldier’ program. wow. I hope the students understand the magnitude of their letter-writing; and I’m sure they will love it if they receive a reply from a soldier they’ve written to. What a special treat!
Thank you for sharing that with me.
I really agree with this – I love receiving hand-written mail. It really reflects the thought that has gone into it. My grandma always writes to me and I return by handwritten letter. It is lovely and very personal.
Yeah! I love that fact. I’m glad you both keep up such a beautiful heart art.
Reblogged this on The Lighthouse Keepers Daughter and commented:
Isn’t it crazy to think that letters have become old fashioned already! I love the idea of letter writing making a comeback in the way vinyl records have – there is something wonderful and kinasthetic and human about both of these that electronic medium can never replace xxx
I keep meaning to hand make my own cards and send them to people I haven’t had contact with for a while but I just keep forgetting. Nice post. Thanks for the reminder.
Hand made! Even better! I haven’t done that in sooooo many years. The last hand made card I received was 5 yrs ago. I still have it 🙂 I hope u get around to doing it.
I have saved your post to remind me!
I agree with your sentiments. My compromise is actually reading emails and fellow blogger posts and taking the time to provide honest and (hopefully) beneficial responses.
I love that. You’re right. I love the feeling of connecting with the online community in that way – going through my ‘reader’ and hearing (reading) the thoughts of the people I follow!