Thursday, 23 August 2007

• Of Letters

  So I started writing some letters today, and I remembered how much I hate writing letters.  However, writing letters is a much different skill from any kind of word processing.  When I write things on the computer, I blaze them out as fast as I can, before I forget anything.  While I'm writing, I'm constantly editing my words, revising paragraphs, and finding more interesting or descriptive ways to say it.  (I miss thesauraus on here)  It's hard to write well, and I think that blogging has actually made me a more sloppy writer.  Writing those letters today, I had to write very slowly, it seemed to me, choosing my words more carefully before writing them, instead of writing, reading, changing and reading again.  It felt painstaking, but my mind actually slowed down and cleared somewhat, instead of racing like it usually does, and I wrote until my  hand began to cramp.  O weak vessel that is my body!

  Anyways, does anyone write letters anymore?  I mean, except for your few old-school people or people who can't use computers.  Everything seems to have an "on-line" option these days.  I'm beginning to like it--it's darn useful, but I can't help but wonder if our culture is changing without us even noticing.

  What does it mean to get a letter in the mail?  A real one, with a stamp and writing and everything, and not a bill or some form of junk mail.  I honestly don't know if it means anything to me anymore.  ...No, that's not entirely true.  I keep my favorite letters, store them or tack them up where I can see them and remember.  They're tangible objects that remind me of someone or something.  I especially like the colorful or intricate ones.  They show that a lot of work has gone into them, and it's nice to think of someone bent over a letter or an envelope, cutting or glueing or writing carefully and thinking of me the whole time.  What better way to show someone that you care?

  It's just so hard to find time to do something out-of-the-ordinary, and some people are just better at it than others.  I'm not so good at it myself.  It's hard for me to do, and the way that I do it often feels clumsy.  Still, a note and a small gift at the right time can mean the world to someone, which is a heckuva lot more than the $10.00 and hour and a half that it took me to make.  I've been on both the giving and the receiving end of one of those gift letters, so I feel pretty sure that I know what I'm talking about.  I suppose that what we really crave these days is still attention and care.  It means a lot when someone goes out of their way for us because they did, not especially because of what they did. 

  So I think that writing a letter is worth doing, despite the fact that it's a real headache.  What do you guys think?

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