During the past month or so, circumstances were making me feel somewhat disconnected from people and activities important to me. Work pulled me away from gatherings, friends seemed to be dropping off the face of the earth, and my book group disbanded. It seemed as though everyone was struggling just to stay afloat at work & at home; we just couldn't make time to get together. A few especially inundated friends didn't even have time to check personal email.
Twenty-five years ago, I'd write letters (on paper!) to friends I missed or wanted to catch up, and counted myself fortunate when I received 2-3 letters a week in return. Now I wonder what's happened whenever a FB friend doesn't post something daily. The snail mail letters were a treat, something to anticipate upon coming home after a long day of work. I don't feel the same way about email or social media, even when I use it to chat with friends rather than for business.
I realized that one way to thank friends for their friendship, offer support during hard times and share things we'd both enjoy would be to start sending letters again. Unlike during my teens & 20s, the ability to send email for mundane purposes means that letter writing can be saved for special circumstances. Also, the fact that so few of us get anything in our mailboxes anymore apart from junk mail means that a letter in an envelope addressed in handwriting will stand out.
Out of curiosity I did web research on the general state of letter writing in 2011, and found several organizations that link writers up with pen pals. Email is an option but many participants prefer postal mail and - surprisingly, to me - not all of them are my age & older. One of them reports a recent resurgence in membership, perhaps reflecting a renewed interest in the lost art of letter-writing.
I then looked through the library's catalog for materials on letter-writing and found several recent (within the last 5 years) how-to books that covered various social and business situations as well as simple friendship letters. In one of them New York designer Kate Spade wrote in her 2004 book Manners that she didn't bother with a cell phone or at-home email until she had a child in day care, and that she still prefers letters to email. And a host of online mail order businesses offer quality paper, pens and even ink for those who like to use fountain pens.
So. The art of letter-writing isn't dead after all. It's just sort of gone underground, like other "retro" activities such as cocktail parties. I'll add my small effort to the revival by digging out my old Cross pen, finding a decent piece of paper and writing to someone this week.
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