The Death of Letters

Been sorting out a mass of paperwork as it's come out of storage boxes today, and came across my bundles of personal correspondence. Shockingly, the last personal letter (not including 'round robin' updates) I received was in 2007! It's not that I've failed to write to people, it's just that people don't appear to sit down with paper & pen to reply any more, as responses almost invariably arrive via e-mail.

Personally, I think it's really sad that we seem to be losing the art of letter-writing as a form of ongoing communication, as there is - to my mind, at least - something special about setting aside time to sit down & write a reply to someone who's written to you (a letter that has probably been read & re-read several times prior to replying!). It's a form of communication which (unlike e-mail & texting) encourages you to reflect both on your own words & those of the person you're corresponding with, which I think leads to a deeper & better level of communication. There's also a sense of permanence involved in a letter which is utterly missing from e-communications; a sense that the words on the page could well last beyond your lifetime, whereas on the interweb it seems like you're lucky if your words last 'til teatime.

What, then, shall we do?

Write a letter - make someone feel special...

Peace

Originally posted 21/08/10