When I was very much younger, I loved writing and sending people letters. I would write frequently to my dad while he was away at work. My friends at school would receive a note or two from me every week. When I got separated from one of my very best friends when we reached highschool, I kept in touch with her by sending weekly letters and packages through her younger brother’s school service. I would spend my allowance on fancy pens, notepads, and letter notes to make my letters extra special.
But when the digital age took over, e-mails and text messages replaced letters. Slowly, I stopped sending and getting handwritten letters. It was more convenient (and trendy) to send a text message for a quick “Hello!”, or a lengthy e-mail if I felt like discussing something in detail. Then, blogging came into the picture; before I knew it, I already had one, and my friends (or stalkers LOL) would simply read it to get “updated.” Keeping in touch with them was no longer as “personal” as I actually wanted it to be.
So now, I wonder, where is the joy in writing, receiving, and reading letters? Is it still possible to communicate with someone through e-mails, texts, and Facebook messages, and achieve the same level of intimacy as handwritten letters? Before, writing someone would demand effort (and sometimes courage) on your part. Does it still apply when you text or e-mail someone today? Can we still discern the level of sincerity and closeness with every word “written” at this day and age?
To satisfy my curiosity, I thought of sending people some notes again, in whatever form I can, whenever I can. I intend to make them personal and private, but with the recepient’s consent, I will post the letters here, especially if I find them enlightening or interesting.
Let’s see how it goes!
Oh I still go out and get those age old inland letters to post to my friends, there is something infinitely romantic about writing by hand and sending it off, aging it in the process, marks and stamps showing its path.
But then the Indian Postal people have reduced the number of post boxes and that troubles me so much, I have to drive to post a letter!!
I used to write letters and notes to my friends all the time, but like you said, as email and facebook became more prevalent, hand-written letters got replaced. Yeah, you can still communicate electronically, but the level of intimacy just isn’t the same.
Your idea sounds great, I should take a leaf out of your book
Hello Jenny, thanks for the visit! Let’s try going back to writing more handwritten letters, especially for those people we really need to catch up with! Let me know how it goes for you!
What a great idea! This year aside from my pen pals I’m also writing letters to people who I find hard to ‘catch up’ with. Even though I’m really not expecting that they’d reply w/ a letter too, I feel that it’s better to write a letter longhand than send an email.
That’s exactly what I want to do–write people to actually “catch up” with them with a personal touch. It’s easy to do that these days with e-mails, texts, and social networking, but I think that a lot of people also feel that handwritten letters are still more personal and sincere. Therefore, I will make efforts to write people handwritten letters as often as I can!
Well, if you didn’t know, I had this postcard exchange in my blog, for Christmas and New Years, and it went great
I was so giddy seeing the cards from Sweden, Romania, Malaysia, Canada and Ecuador, I felt like a kid again. It’s so fun, I’m thinking about doing it again on other holidays 
It feels so good when my parents say: “Oh, Tina, there’s a letter for you from…” and it’s not a bill!
That’s really nice! I’d love to do that too!
People usually find it weird when I send/get letters from all over the world, given the technology that we have today. But I still feel that old school handwritten letters are best when you want to send a message with a personal touch.
I’ll let you know the next time I hold the exchange
Thanks, I’d be glad to participate!