The Lost Art of Letter Writing
Most of us don’t write letters. Some of us stopped doing so years ago when the development of technologies allowed us to communicate anytime we want; some didn’t even try letter writing in the first place. However, I believe that letter writing is actually wonderful although lost art that has to be revived. And here are some reasons to do so.
It helps us to become more literate.
Not all of us do much reading and writing these days unless it’s necessary for some reason. Though our world is filled with information, it is hard for many people to concentrate on it and to work with it effectively. We shorten words and use emoticons to express our feelings – and it affects many of us, making it hard to describe our thoughts and emotions to other people, to formulate our thoughts well, to be able to catch the others’ attention by our speeches.
When we write letters, we have to come up with something more expressive and informative than a few sentences accompanied by an emoticon. We have to actually think how we can describe our lives and feelings – and this is one of the easiest and most comfortable ways to become more literate and to formulate our thoughts better (first on paper, then in real life).
Moreover, letter writing can improve our writing skills in general too. Not only you won’t need any more help to write a letter – you will also find it easier to complete other types of writing, be it a college writing assignment or a motivation letter.
It helps us keep in more personal touch with the others.
Many of us have friends or relatives who live far away. Sure, these days we are able to contact them via email or messengers, but such communication is usually less informative and personal. Compare exchanging funny pictures and messages like “How are you doing?” with a detailed description of your week written on paper.
Of course, letters are harder to write. You have to spend some time thinking about what you’re going to write, formulate your thoughts well, pay attention to your handwriting, and be sure not to make many mistakes (otherwise the letter won’t look very nice). However, doing all this means that you actually care about the person you’re writing to.
You can be as creative as possible.
You are able to turn a simple letter into a piece of art, making the whole writing process more interesting and creative. Choose the stationery you like: it could be an expensive pen or some colored pens, a plain white paper or the paper that is actually designed for letter writing. Work on your handwriting or don’t do it at all, making the letter look as natural as possible. Add a postcard or a photograph to illustrate where you have been or what you like, for example. I bet any person would be glad to receive such a letter.
It is a great gift.
These days our mail boxes are mostly filled with bills and ads. Imagine what a joy it’ll be to receive a letter you weren’t expecting.
We spend a lot of money to surprise our friends with expensive gifts, totally forgetting that a letter could become a great gift too. You don’t need to spend a lot of money on it, but another person will be able to keep it and re-read it from time to time thinking about you. Isn’t it wonderful?
They’ll remain even when we are gone.
We live in a digital age and most of the things we create are digital too. At the same time, we don’t treasure them much: not many people actually print and treasure their emails, for example.
Letters, however, are a completely different thing: they are treasured, saved, and passed to new generations. Maybe your parents still have the letters written by your grand- or grand grandparents. Maybe you too keep some notes you wrote in school or a postcard sent to you by your first love. So why don’t you spend some time on creating more material things your descendants could treasure?
Writing a letter is a very special way to show someone that you care about them. Writing a letter also helps us to express ourselves, to learn how to describe various things to another person. They are far more personal than emails and messages we exchange every day – and so, they are far more precious.
That’s why I encourage you to revive the lost art of letter writing and to send a letter to a person you care about. I hope that it’ll become just as amazing and enjoyable routine for you as it is for me.
Do you think that we have a chance to return to letter writing these days? I would be grateful to hear your opinions and thoughts in the comments below.
