Writing Letters

When was the last time you wrote a letter? I'm not talking about an email or a postcard, but a real life letter. For me, the answer us last Wednesday. 

We fancy email as the letter killer, but this isn't entirely true. The Atlantic recently did a piece about this issue, in which they established that the preponderance of mail was actually for business purposes, not for personal use. While email has overtaken this, it's really no loss. All this aside, I think a major culprit in the decline of personal correspondence is Facebook's news feed. 

Let's say, for the sake of illustration, that in 1997 I spent two weeks in England. If I wanted to take time while I was there to tell you of my English exploits, I would sit down, putting pen to paper, and write you a letter. I would probably be back home before the letter arrived (email most certainly wins in the speed category), but I would still write it, just to describe that moment in the midst of the excitement surrounding that moment. Upon returning him I would send letter to my newfound Anglo-chums, telling them of my experience with returning to this side of the pond. 

Fast forward to 2010. If I were to go to England, I would love to write you a letter about my trip, but your already seen it in my Facebook updates, along with photographs (including some rather embarrassing  photos posted by the aforementioned newfound Anglo-chums). I have nothing to say in my letter. 

This is where I found myself on Wednesday when I sat down to write a letter: at a loss, because everything worth saying had already been said. 

There is an aspect in which I view my blog as a letter: I write to you in hopes that you'll find it interesting. Perhaps anything written on a personal level with an audience in mins is a letter, even if it is a different kind of letter. 

I hope this post finds you well. 

When was the last time you wrote a letter? I'm not talking about an email or a postcard, but a real life letter. For me, the answer us last Wednesday. 

We fancy email as the letter killer, but this isn't entirely true. The Atlantic recently did a piece about this issue, in which they established that the preponderance of mail was actually for business purposes, not for personal use. While email has overtaken this, it's really no loss. All this aside, I think a major culprit in the decline of personal correspondence is Facebook's news feed. 

Let's say, for the sake of illustration, that in 1997 I spent two weeks in England. If I wanted to take time while I was there to tell you of my English exploits, I would sit down, putting pen to paper, and write you a letter. I would probably be back home before the letter arrived (email most certainly wins in the speed category), but I would still write it, just to describe that moment in the midst of the excitement surrounding that moment. Upon returning him I would send letter to my newfound Anglo-chums, telling them of my experience with returning to this side of the pond. 

Fast forward to 2010. If I were to go to England, I would love to write you a letter about my trip, but your already seen it in my Facebook updates, along with photographs (including some rather embarrassing  photos posted by the aforementioned newfound Anglo-chums). I have nothing to say in my letter. 

This is where I found myself on Wednesday when I sat down to write a letter: at a loss, because everything worth saying had already been said. 

There is an aspect in which I view my blog as a letter: I write to you in hopes that you'll find it interesting. Perhaps anything written on a personal level with an audience in mins is a letter, even if it is a different kind of letter. 

I hope this post finds you well. 

Writing Letters