The One about Handwritten Letters

I love handwritten letters.

Opening the mailbox and seeing the loops of cursive writing on a thin paper. Coffee-stained, wax-sealed envelopes, closed with a kiss. I love seeing someone’s name printed on the return address and thinking—I wonder how they’re doing right now?

I love the sound of opening the seal. The excited feeling of taking out the contents, dreaming of what’s inside. Finally pulling out a tinted paper and seeing a library of heartfelt words. “Dear Sophia…” A spark of serendipity flutters through my veins, seeing my name being addressed before anything else, as if it were the most important thing they needed to write.

Letters are like traveling back in time. They’re not instantaneous like text messages or emails or social media posts…they take patience and time. And during that period—whether it be three or thirty days since it was first written—thousands of people have been born and have passed away. I wonder what’s happened to the original sender of the letter in the past few days. Is their life still the same as how they wrote it to be?

I read about the large and little things. What they did over the summer. Their favorite Taylor Swift album. The books they’ve always wanted to write but never did. The paper smells like a biographical novel on the shelf of a small-town bookstore.

I love how paper connects people. I wonder…how many people, right at this moment, are reading the same line in the same book? How many people, right now, are reading this blog post? Words are like humanity’s clockwork.

I love responding. I love writing my thoughts down and sealing them for a special person. Opening the mailbox and putting the envelope in, fully stamped with their address on the center. It’s lovely to know people patient enough to wait for the response. 

Hey, fellow adventures! I hope you liked this little snippet of hygge-filled prose today. As you may have noticed…I’ve been very off-track with Blogmas. I’m thinking I’ll start writing every other day rather than every day so that my body and mind can stay on-track. 

Keep wandering,

TALK TO ME! Comments make my day! What are your thoughts? What do you think about handwritten letters?

3 comments / Add your comment below

  1. Hand-written letters are awesome! I have been really bad about keeping up with my pen pals over the years. I need to start afresh, get some stamps, maybe have a notebook just of addresses for letter friends, where I can jot down ideas of things I want to share with them. Then I might not draw a blank when/if ever I sit down to write those letters. Fun drawings/doodles in the margins are always a bonus. 😀

    1. Aw Ruth!! You should definitely get back into it. And if you ever want a new penpal, I’d love to exchange letters with you!

      I usually keep track of letters in my bullet journal! And an address book just sounds so lovely. It’s so sweet and special to send someone a letter they don’t expect to receive, just to make them smile as they open it. Drawings & doodles in the margins are so cute.

      Sometimes I have to outline my letters before I write them, honestly…if it’s too long. Which isn’t bad.

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