What Do Letter-Writers Do?

My close friends recently asked me, “What do you do with all your letter-writing?” I thought that it was an excellent topic for a blog post. So, what do letter-writers do when they write letters?

• 1. We decorate envelopes colorfully.
  We use many tools to beautify envelopes that hold our precious letters. There are rubber stamps and colorful inks. There are stickers and washi tapes. Some even use acrylic paints or watercolors. There are no rules about decorating to your heart’s delight. You can make a scrapbook out of your envelopes, too. Paste all the cut-outs you want, as long as the address label is readable by the post office. Letter-writing is not just writing letters. It is a mixture of all things crafty.

• 2. We share our local postcards.
  The way we get visitors to our local towns is to promote it by photos. Numerous postcards are still created and sold in different souvenir shops or bookstores. Yes, we still have those around in this era. These postcards have fascinating views and informative blurbs. I hunt these down whenever I leave the house, go out of town, or leave the country. It’s one of the things I collect, and I share them with my pen pals. There’s a whole website dedicated to trading postcards. I’m sure some of you know what it is. I’m a Postcrosser!

• 3. We use or share our sticker collection.
  We use stickers and washi tapes to decorate our envelopes or even our stationery papers and share them with our pen pals. Once in a while, I insert “goodies” with my letters. It’s a “feel good” kind of gesture. It doesn’t mean I want something in return. It’s a random act of kindness which promotes something positive. Besides, if I run out of stock, it’s time to shop for more. HaHa!

• 4. We share what music we listen to.
  Sometimes, while writing letters, I play music from my laptop. It’s background noise for me, but I write them down on a special paper (the template I bought on Etsy – thank you, Geet!). I got used to it that I couldn’t write a letter without my background noise. Of course, there are different kinds of background noise, and music is just one of them. Depending on my mood, I play Sinatra Radio, Disco Radio, Love Song Radio, or Motown Radio. Anything goes.

• 5. The most essential thing that we do is talk on paper.
  Instead of verbally talking, we talk through our pens by hand for the most part. Writing by hand is therapeutic. We think before we “speak.” We say what we want to say on paper carefully. That’s my experience of it. It’s not a sin to type, but as much as possible, we promote handwritten letters. We practice our penmanship, especially cursive. Our handwriting makes us unique from everyone. We should use it. We must use it. At this age, I’ve heard that schools don’t teach cursive writing anymore. It’s unfortunate. One pen pal of mine can’t read my cursive penmanship. I had to type my letters. So, our society promotes handwritten letters, but we don’t turn away those who can’t do it. I can teach cursive to anyone who wants to learn it. Just send me a message. It will be a fun activity.

After reading all that, do you want to write letters, too?