Is the Art of Correspondence Dead?

When is the last time you wrote a letter?  No, not an email!  An honest-to-goodness pen-on-paper, snail-mail letter?  That long, huh?

If you are like me, you can manage to get out the occasional Thank You note.  Christmas cards are a huge undertaking, but you manage to get them out once a year.  Birthday cards are falling by the wayside.  And why send invitations when you can Evite?

Is the art of correspondence dead?  Will we miss it when it's gone?

Don't get me wrong, I love my email, my computer, my word processing software.  My carpal tunnel sydrome is a testament to that.  But I also love the emotion and sentiment that handwriting brings.  Yes, I am one of those crafty types that makes my own greeting cards at home.  I can create them and print from the computer.  I can even create my own original works of art and use calligraphy to pen a beautiful message.  This does not mean I expect everyone else to!

It just means that maybe we should all take a moment to think about the last time we received a letter from a friend or family member (besides that annual Christmas letter).  Did someone send you a card with a personal handwritten note just for you?  How did that make you feel?  I can tell you that there are a great many people in the world who cherish such things.  Even if they would not admit it to friends and co-workers, even if they are not aware of how much a personalized message means, I think that every one of us craves a little personal attention from someone we care about.

Love letters don't have to be a thing of the past.  It's not too late to spend a few minutes thinking about how someone makes you feel, taking a few more to write that down on paper, or a store-bought card.  (Yup, that's why they make the kind with nothing on the inside!)  Or what about the people you manage at work?  Do you know that a great many employees would rather have a personal note from their boss than public recognition?  What does it say about you and your company if each new employee gets a sincere Welcome note or card from the boss?  We usually send such things to new clients as a way to keep their business.  But what about the people who we trust to serve those clients?  Don't we need to work for their loyalty, too?

What about our children?  Do we want them growing up thinking in abbreviations and acronyms?  Texting and smileys and email, but no handwritten anything?  I know some kids that weep for joy when they find a brief note of love or encouragement from Mom in a lunch box or a gym bag.

I refuse to believe that the art of correspondence is dead.  I'm going to keep crafting my home-made cards, writing love letters to my husband, and even writing scathing hate letters to people who tick me off - though I would never mail one of those.  Writing can be cathartic, therepeutic, cheaper than a shrink or Wellbutrin, and a perfect way to reach out to someone who just might need to hear from someone who cares today.