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sunshinemiss -> *Letter writing* (8/26/2008 4:16:34 PM)
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Greetings CM folks,
There is another thread over that way about writing letters via email. I thought I'd share with you letter writing in the real world, real paper letters. You know, the kind you hand write. I'm an old *coughs* hand at this, and thought I'd share.
I made a commitment when my grandfather was older that I'd write him once a month. And I did. And then I wrote my dad once a month, and then my aunt, and so on. I learned a few things.
First, people love to receive real mail in their mail boxes. You'd be surprised how much a simple, real card will please another person. Have you ever been with a person who opened their mail box? If they get all bills or junk, they often sigh. But one lovely little letter, card, postcard - their whole face lights up!
How to...
I often pick up a pack of notecards wherever I travel. If I'm in the USA, I can get them for a few dollars at a Ross or TJ Maxx or some other place - thrift stores often have them. If you are traveling you can often get a book of post cards for $5 and under. Sometimes book stores have them on sale. Other people enjoy making them on line or making them with art supplies. But making them is different than writing them. I keep a little box of blank cards so that I always have them for any occasion.
Next, put a book of stamps in WITH the cards. You'd be surprised how much this will help.
Make a label sheet of addresses of the people you normally write to. We all contact the same people generally - parents, siblings, best friend, kids, sweetie. Put their addresses on a label sheet and print it out and then you don't have to hand write it. Email a copy of it to yourself so that you can have access to it even if you are at work or on vacation. Oh, and get those labels that have your address on them. Heck all kinds of charities send them to you. Use them! See there - the whole outside of the envelope in 3 labeled steps. Put those labels on BEFORE you write the letter. Much easier.
The card itself... Choose to write on one side to start with. This is normal and noone will think you are anything but wonderful. Three sentences is plenty. You can build up to more if you want. *winks
After you seal the envelope (after putting the card in), you should put the stamped letter in a place where you will make it leave the home - on / in your mailbox, in your briefcase or backpack, on top of the library books to be returned, whatever.
Finally, mail it. Put it in the outgoing mail box or drop it in the blue box on your way to the grocery or attach it to your mailbox for the letter carrier to pick up. I found that taking my letters to work and popping them in the "outgoing" mail made things easier for me. Nobody minds that if you've already stamped the letter.
The process of writing: Pick a day where you write your letter. Maybe with each time you write out your checks for your bills, you commit to writing a letter to your kids. It would make writing an alimony check easier I expect. Or if you have a weekly ritual where you maybe go out for lunch or something, take your supplies with you and write there. My friend Michael has postcards and post card stamps with him when he travels and writes a note on the airplane. He travels a lot on business and keeps them in his brief case. Doesn't matter if the cards are from Boston and he is in San Antonio. What matters is he sends the note.
What to write... you can always send something from the newspaper, from a poetry book you read, from a magazine or whatever. What matters isn't WHAT you write. It matters THAT you write. I once got an envelope from my best friend.... In it was a little pack of post it note cards in the shape of a heart. No note, no letter. Just that. It was delightful.
The three sentence approach I mentioned earlier goes like this:
Dear X,
I was thinking about you today.
Remember when we _____________.
I laughed out loud/got nostalgic/looked at that old picture. (whatever)
Salutation (like peace and passion)
Your name...
Dear Greedy Top,
I was thinking about you today.
Remember those cards we sent to each other?
I put the ones from you in my postcard folder and it made me smile.
Hugs,
sunshine
EASY PEASY MAC AND CHEESY
A couple other thoughts - older people could use a box of cards and some stamps and the labels too. I gave my grandma labels and stamps and cards when I moved so she could write me. It made her happy to not have to hand write my address. I got more letters that way, too.
I like to use stickers on all my letters, so I keep them WITH the cards. Sometimes I send a tea bag or a piece of gum in a card (unchewed gum I hope *winks*... I can hear you thinking) just for the fun of it, but I have those in my writing box too. Sometimes I use something silly like extra papers I copied for work that are not confidential. It recycles the paper and my friend has something else to read.
My niece has in a box every letter and card I've sent her. She has told me it is one of the things she would pick up if the house were on fire. My friend Joe told me that his mother kept his letters by her night stand. They were dog eared when she died because she read them so much. That's some testimony!
And remember, the more you write, the more you will receive!
peace and passion and postcards,
sunshine
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