Snail Mail...

When was the last time you sat down and wrote a letter? Not typed and printed out, but sat and enjoyed the feel of your favorite pen in your hand smoothly pushing ink across some parchment? I would venture to guess that it's been some time for most of you. Your first inclination may be to say, "but Brown Eyed Girl, why would I waste my time when email is so fast and so easy?". Well, because the art of writing is dying, the writing muscles in our hands are weak (think I'm wrong, tell me if I am after you participate in my suggestion), and a hand written note or letter is still among one of the finest gifts you can give to a friend or family member. Honestly, think of the joy you get when you go to the mail box and there is a piece of mail in there just for you that does not require you to send a check back so the repo man doesn't come. You know the feeling, you trudge to the mailbox, pop it open, and see your name handwritten on an envelope. Anyone who says they don't feel instantly light is lying to themselves. It's like a smile in your mail and you know it! The art of letter writing is something I have clung to desperately as my whole life has transitioned to e-commerce. I pay bills online, I Facebook, I blog...the list goes on. However, I have some pretty special people in my life that have never turned a computer on and I would suppose you do to. It seems that since email has taken over that communicating with those people has slowed or even stopped. Even if we exclude your sweet grandmother in the nursing home (who by the way deserves a monthly letter), think about how many wonderful friend and family members you have. Pick up a pen, grab a piece of paper and know that you are holding all the tools you need to bring someone the warmest little fuzzy in the world. You don't have to spend hours and span pages with your handwritten note, it can be as simple as two or three lines letting someone know you care. A letter sent through the good old snail mail has a way of saying, "I care enough to take time and do something out of the norm...just for you". Parents, I encourage you to do this for your children be them 3 or 33, I promise you smiles all around. Your 15 year old gets about 50 text messages, and 25 emails a day conservatively....but you hold the power to give him or her something unique....something none of their friends will think to do, a handwritten letter. So here's my challenge to all of you, within the next 24 hours take 15 minutes to write a letter to someone you love. Find a great pen, maybe even spring for some fun stationary, and use one of those weird things we call....a stamp! Let me know what kind of feedback you get, I love human experiments. Wishing you all a week filled with possibilities!