Letter Love: Why Writing An Actual Letter Means Something
In these times of social isolation, I have been touched by the many efforts people have made to reach out to others, whether those close to them or those they have never met. (See Colt Clark and The Quarantine Kids on YouTube for a family that makes thousands laugh and sing). Many have noted that the corona virus has led to a huge upswing in internet use — for shopping of course, but also for communication and @entertainment.
All and any forms of reaching out is good in my book. That said, I hope we remember that there is a now practically quaint form of communicating — the written letter or card. I don’t know about everyone else, but I am always particularly touched when I receive a letter or a thank you note in the mail. When I receive a thank you card from anyone under the age of 25, I always think about how nice it is that there are still parents out there who teach children the value of such things. (Or force them to write thank you notes …. but perhaps as adults these children will choose to keep the habit).
For me at least, electronic words simply are not the same as written words. Electronic communications are so often abbreviated thoughts, so limited that we now express such complex and nuanced emotions as love, surprise or gratitude with little smiley faces or frowny faces (I am not sure there is a correct spelling for “frowny” — should I have included an “e”?). It is as if we no longer have the time to say “I love you” (heart!) or “I am so proud of you” (clapping hands!). A letter instead lets someone know
that they were worth the time to: find paper or a card; find a pen; think about what you want to say and write those thoughts down in complete sentences; find an envelope and a stamp; dig out their address; and, finally, actually mail the letter or card. Needless to say, this displays a lot more effort than “❤️❤️😀💕”.
Beyond that, I think we recognize that there is a significance and a permanence to our letters and cards that our emails and texts do not have. Our electronic communications are more often than not quickly lost in the sheer volume of other such communications we all receive each day. Letters and cards d saved in keepsake boxes, while emails and texts get caught in a regularly scheduled delete or, at best, placed with hundreds of others in an email folder marked “personal” i.e, anything unrelated to work. Finally, at the end of the day, we spend more time on our written words because somehow we know that they will mean more to the person who reads them. Because they do.
