I may be one of the few that still writes letters.
Not just a card, not just a one page update telling someone I’m thinking of them and that the family is doing well. I mean several pages pouring out my thoughts, dreams, worries, struggles; joyous moments; deep pains. Letters that include bits of my life: pressed flowers, a poem I was reading, a recipe to share, or a line of scripture that spoke to me; a picture or a quote.
You might be asking: Why don’t you just send an email? Why don’t you just text someone the picture?
Let me ask you a question.
Do you enjoy getting mail?
Not just the amazon package you ordered yesterday with Prime and were expecting today at 2pm but it didn’t get to your house till 6pm.
No, I mean, the unexpected. A letter with your name on it. Not typed, but handwritten.
You might be thinking, someone took the time to look up my address? Do I even know this person’s address?
The letter is addressed to you, and all of a sudden you recognize the handwriting. It’s from a dear friend. As you wonder why they wrote to you, you take the letter upstairs to read, and, sitting in your favorite chair, a fresh cup of coffee in hand, you read the greeting:
“Dear friend”
“Hey you”
“Dearest sister”
Someone thought about how they were going to begin this letter, you are that important.
You see, when you write, you can’t erase paragraphs at a time without throwing away the entire letter and starting over again. There’s no undo button. You can’t write a paragraph and suddenly think: this is way too emotional; I don’t want to burden this person with my problems; they’ll think my idea is silly. When you write, you truly pour out from the soul. The words flow from your mind to your pen. You become consumed in thought until…until there’s nothing more to say and so all you can do is stop and think.
This is the essence of why I keep the art of letter writing alive.
And so as you continue reading this letter, the one from your best friend, you see a part of her that you have only glimpsed when you’re together.
The soul speaks through many avenues, and this is one.
Some sections will probably crease the sides of your mouth as you smile, or maybe frown; your brow will furrow as you read concerning sentences or ones full of deep thought; others will bring about nostalgia; still others might bring tears.
The written word is the truest form of talking when not together.
Nearing the end of the letter may fill you with a soft approaching sadness as you realize today’s conversation is over. The goodbye may end with:
“love”
“miss you”
“write soon”
You will know down deep that, just like the beginning, someone thought about the impression they wanted to leave with you. The feeling they wanted to impart, reflecting in words what they feel deeply about you in person.
Re-folding the creases of the letter and placing it back in its envelope may create in you a pondering spirit as you reflect on all that was written. All that was given to you. And so you may write back, and fill your letter with the same depth of your soul, with pictures or pressed flowers, with a meaningful beginning and end.
The cycle of life continues.
But you, you will walk with eyes wide open, expecting life, so you can paint the pictures and put into words the beautiful feeling that is: to know, and be known by the one opening the envelope on the other side.
2 Comments
I so enjoyed your post on letter writing,and wanted to let you know what a treasure it is to maintain
contact on such a personal level. Thank you for a bright spot in my day.
Thank you so much for your kind words, Karen!