13 Letters & Counting

For as long as I can remember, I have always loved both sending and receiving mail.  My earliest memories of sending mail were at age 6, when my cousin and I became penpals. It was so exciting to receive something in the mail 'just because' and not for Christmas or a birthday.  I have been called a hoarder, but I have saved almost every handwritten card, letter, and note that I have received over the years.  Although most of the time they simply occupy a box or a bin, there are random moments when I will take them out, read a few, and be blessed all over again.  I used parts of letters to write my speech when I was Maid of Honor at my penpal cousin's wedding.  For one of my friend's birthdays, I went through our old junior high notes and made copies of them, which I used background paper for a scrapbook I made her.  The words people have written to me over the years help tell the story of my life.  Yes, I realize after I die, there is a strong chance they will be thrown away shortly thereafter.  I know they could not possibly mean as much to someone else as they do to me.  But until then, I will continue to cherish each one.

Handwritten letters and snail mail is a dying art.  With e-mail, text messaging, social media, blogs, and all sorts of other ways to communicate, why would anyone ever send a letter anymore?  It is not convenient.  It is not free.  You do not have a record of exactly what you wrote and when you sent it.  There is no spell check.  You cannot change your font, or send the exact same message to multiple people.  You risk getting a hand cramp, your pen running out of ink, your pencil breaking, not being able to find a stamp, or the recipient's current address.  

All that I just mentioned....that is exactly why I love writing letters.   Yes, it costs money to buy a stamp. Yes, it takes time, focus, and some energy to write a letter.  No, it really is not something you can easily multi-task doing.  Yes, it could get lost or returned to you for the wrong address.  But in a subtle way sending someone a letter tells someone they are worth the cost, the time, and the effort.

Although I am a fairly goal oriented and driven person, I do not routinely make New Year's resolutions.  Sometimes I have some ideas in my head about how I would like to change, but rarely am I concrete or do I physically write it down (which my sister says is the first step to actually achieving any goal).  This year, the idea just kind of came to me.  I was reading this post someone had shared on Facebook called something like "18 Things People Should Take Time to Do."  Letter writing was near the top.  People have always associated me with giving cards, sending mail, and as I was informed via letter today "I guess I am doing the Alyssa thing and running out of room so I have to write on the back."  Yes, I am known for writing on the back.  I typically always start to write in a card on the left panel, in anticipation that I will easily fill up the inside, and save the back just in case I need it.  I tend to be wordy, tend to have a lot to say.  Even when I write emails, this tends to be the case.  Probably even more so since I can type pretty fast.  All this to say is that I decided 2014 was the year I would bring back the handwritten letter.

I began on January 1 and have written 13 letters so far.  One letter a day, trying to get it in the mail within a day or two.  Don't fret if you have not received a letter.  There are PLENTY more days in the year and the order of recipients has nothing to do with popularity or the status of our friendship.  I had thought about how I decided who I would write to.  I thought about putting a bunch of names in a jar and picking one out each day.  I thought about just going alphabetically through my address list.  But then I decided I wanted this to be more than just something on my to do list.  I wanted it to be a blessing.  I wanted to use something I enjoy doing and receiving, and be disciplined enough to make it a regular part of my life.  So I decided to leave the recipients up to God.  I just sensed that He would put people on my heart each day, and although I just speak from 13 days of experience, each day I have been certain that I was writing to exactly the right person.

Although I did not resolve to write letters in order to receive a lot more mail, it is a nice bonus.  Today I received a card from a dear friend.  I will leave you with the wisdom she shared.

"May you see a simple and consistent thing like the sun in California and be thankful for it.  And may you have unforeseen endurance in your resolutions."