With the rise in popularity of sites such as Facebook and Twitter, the art of communication in our time has drastically changed. I remember when i was 12 years old, i used to exchange hand written letters with my Mum from boarding school. I loved receiving letters and also writing them; i remember how excited i used to get when i received one from my Mum or a pen pal that i kept then. I also loved the whole process of picking out a nice sheet of paper and an envelope in which to write and send off this letter.
But these days, it's all about e-mails, text messages and Ping-ing. I really miss the whole process of writing letters. I appreciate the fact that technology has made communication a much more speedy process and important information can be communicated quickly and easily; and also received at a speedy rate. But i'm pretty sure there are certain information shared that can wait through the time it takes for a letter to arrive at its destination.
Although i'm in a long distance relationship where Facebook, e-mails, phone calls and texts play a large role, i still make the effort to send hand written letters to Le Male. He still gets surprised when he gets them from me because he doesn't expect such in this day and age; he even teases me that i'm very archaic in certain aspects of my life but i don't care. I just love the process of using fine paper, choosing what colour of ink i want to write in and finish off my letter with a spritz of the perfume i was wearing at the time. I think it makes the whole writing process more enjoyable. I also tend to write my letters over a couple of days, i like to spread it out as it increases the depth and interest of information i share in the letter.
I'm now contemplating the idea of including hand written notes and letters more into my daily life as i find it a very pleasing and luxurious experience. The only other idea i have so far is sending out hand written 'thank you' notes and also 'invitations' to people.
What do you guys think of this lost art? Do you or do you not care for it?
I'm 26, I'm old fashioned (i.e. friends came over to our home for the first time and commented that "so antiques are really your style."). In life most see me as this modern woman, but I love doing things the way they used to be done. This includes letter writing. My husband knows if we go anywhere near the stationary section in a store it could be a while. I love cotton paper for writing letters, love wax seals, love fountain pens. I write letters to my grandmama, hand write thank you notes for most anything, and now with the husband in Iraq we'll be writing love letters (we did it when he was in England and I in the U.S. as well....we have a box of letters and they are something we keep in a fireproof box.).
ReplyDeleteI think it's awesome that you're writing your guy!
I feel the same way at times. There's just something special about getting a letter in the mail (besides bills and ads, urgh). It's very personal like you said and feels more heartfelt than a bunch of coding on a LED screen.
ReplyDeletePerhaps emails should look more like nice letters as a compromise (i.e. nice hand-writing fonts and pretty paper). :]