write letters to friends

Five months and I haven’t sent a single letter!

Emails, cards, video chats and visits … but not one letter. I said that I wasn’t going to set myself a schedule, but I think a schedule might now be a good idea.

One letter per week, every week, probably around teatime on Sunday: crumpets & calligraphy!

bla bla bla…

...as a PDF is to a book. Electronic communications and media are fast & cheap…but remote & intangible. To open a hand written letter from a friend is to receive an investment of time & care which an email would struggle to convey (unless you’re someone whose personality can be reflected adequately by 12pt Lucida Grande?).

I owe each of my friends a good, warm, hand written letter. I won’t set a schedule: each letter will take as long as it requires to craft something personal and special to them.

Need to get one weighed and the others to a letterbox. This is easier than I thought it would be.

This one is headed to Africa – exciting or what? Can’t wait to post it. Also recieved a letter from a friend who I have been out of contact with for a while. That was really lovely and reinforced what a treat it is to recieve letters and how I can give others that treat with a little effort.

I am aiming for one a week. They can be postcards if needbe. I am going to have a go at working on them after dinner – as I am always too lazy to move for a while I think I could write letters during this time.

This week the floodgates of emails rolled in – friends from all over, many of them close friends and I kept trying to find time to correspond. It finally came down to taking off from work for an hour and return the favor. I felt better that day than I had for weeks, just knowing that we were able to connect.

The next step will be going by snail mail!

Two years ago I was flying to New Zealand to spend Christmas with my Father, I spent hours writing old people I had not seen in a years while on the 23 hour Flight.
I planed the time and had collected their addresses off the web and from friends and family. I took paper and envelops, wrote stream of consciousness for pages about what that personal had meant in my life. Sealed up the letters one by one without rereading them and sent them off.
It was very rewarding!! I got some great feedback. I have made a few people very happy to hear how much they had meant in my life.
Take a few moments to ACTUALLY write that person you have always said that you should write and thank for changing your life so many years ago!!
Just a random act of thanks for so many blessings in my life. Take a movement and give some Karma back to the world that has given you so much!!

I’ve been making a big effort to send friends & family goodies in the mail. I burned my sister a CD, mailed my mom a poem, sent my dad a miniature zen garden, sent my sister-in-law a bag of mineature candy penises, and a friend a quote about Albert Einstein with a great picture of him on a 12×12 piece of cardboard. Everyone has loved it, and I’ve been getting a few random things in the mail… cards, letters, quotes.

My daughter sent my brother a note telling him that she hates to watch people eat mayonaise. He will not allow the condiment in the house. He’s going to die laughing when he gets her note. It’s a lot of fun! DO IT!

A really great book to get about fun stuff like this is “52 projects.” I think they have a website too: www.52projects.com
I’m not affiliated with them, it’s just really fun to check out.

I caught up, at last!