Several months back, a friend from high school asked me an unusual question. He asked me to write him a letter. Not sure of his intentions, I let the request percolate for multiple weeks, probably out of laziness more than anything else.
Writing a letter takes thought. You need to consider what to say, how to say it, craft the messages in each paragraph so there is something worthwhile.
There’s no reason to write a letter that doesn’t have anything to say. What’s the point? Boring or mundane subject matter doesn’t lighten up anybody.
There’s a certain nostalgia value to writing and getting letters. My friend might have considered that in asking me to write, I don’t know. You have to wait for the mail to arrive. There is anticipation. Then you take your time reading through what is written. You hold the paper in your hands, and that’s something, too.
I come from a letter writing family and a letter writing time in history. Our family lived in Brazil for two years when I was in sixth and seventh graders. Our maternal grandfather, a newspaper man himself, sent us weekly updates from Closter, N.J., filled with humous anecdotes and the goings-on of the neighbors, local animals and our aunts, uncles and cousins. Perhaps I took the hook then.
You couldn’t wait for the next letter to arrive. It was like getting a present in the mail.
In today’s rapid-fire world, that doesn’t happen. With instantaneous communication, we don’t wait. We launch. Someone texts you and within seconds you respond. This continues until the dialogue fades away. Do you remember what was said?
A letter, instead, is more consumable. You savor it. You take your time. You think more about what was said. Implicitly, that gives it more meaning. Plus, you know the person writing to you at a bare minimum took the extra effort to commit words to paper. That means something, too.
Another value of writing a letter is the point of “thinking.” You must think ahead, plan your words, sentences, statements, messages, stories. That typically creates more meaning.
Again, if you contrast that with the back and forth that occurs in electronic transmissions, you gain emotionally, mentally and psychologically from a written letter (whether writing or receiving).
A letter helps you put issues in perspective. You’re not instantaneously reacting. You’re more often pondering.
There’s one more plus. It’s also about the differences in comparing a written letter vs. today’s yo-yoing messaging.
I believe in letter writing, you more clearly hear your voice. You take the time to understand where you’re coming from and where you want to go.
And, I think that also cuts to some of the agitation we see and hear about online these days. When you react without fully understanding your voice (of without considering what you really want to say), uglier things come out. You say things you shouldn’t. The mean spirit arrives.
My friend has not responded to my letter yet. In time, I believe he will. Perhaps he is waiting for something significant to occur in his life so he can craft the story on paper. We will see.
Part of the fun and joy is the waiting, the anticipation. There is no instant gratification in letter writing. There’s a lesson in that.
Writing a letter takes thought. You need to consider what to say, how to say it, craft the messages in each paragraph so there is something worthwhile.
There’s no reason to write a letter that doesn’t have anything to say. What’s the point? Boring or mundane subject matter doesn’t lighten up anybody.
There’s a certain nostalgia value to writing and getting letters. My friend might have considered that in asking me to write, I don’t know. You have to wait for the mail to arrive. There is anticipation. Then you take your time reading through what is written. You hold the paper in your hands, and that’s something, too.
I come from a letter writing family and a letter writing time in history. Our family lived in Brazil for two years when I was in sixth and seventh graders. Our maternal grandfather, a newspaper man himself, sent us weekly updates from Closter, N.J., filled with humous anecdotes and the goings-on of the neighbors, local animals and our aunts, uncles and cousins. Perhaps I took the hook then.
You couldn’t wait for the next letter to arrive. It was like getting a present in the mail.
In today’s rapid-fire world, that doesn’t happen. With instantaneous communication, we don’t wait. We launch. Someone texts you and within seconds you respond. This continues until the dialogue fades away. Do you remember what was said?
A letter, instead, is more consumable. You savor it. You take your time. You think more about what was said. Implicitly, that gives it more meaning. Plus, you know the person writing to you at a bare minimum took the extra effort to commit words to paper. That means something, too.
Another value of writing a letter is the point of “thinking.” You must think ahead, plan your words, sentences, statements, messages, stories. That typically creates more meaning.
Again, if you contrast that with the back and forth that occurs in electronic transmissions, you gain emotionally, mentally and psychologically from a written letter (whether writing or receiving).
A letter helps you put issues in perspective. You’re not instantaneously reacting. You’re more often pondering.
There’s one more plus. It’s also about the differences in comparing a written letter vs. today’s yo-yoing messaging.
I believe in letter writing, you more clearly hear your voice. You take the time to understand where you’re coming from and where you want to go.
And, I think that also cuts to some of the agitation we see and hear about online these days. When you react without fully understanding your voice (of without considering what you really want to say), uglier things come out. You say things you shouldn’t. The mean spirit arrives.
My friend has not responded to my letter yet. In time, I believe he will. Perhaps he is waiting for something significant to occur in his life so he can craft the story on paper. We will see.
Part of the fun and joy is the waiting, the anticipation. There is no instant gratification in letter writing. There’s a lesson in that.