It has come to an age of technology. A time in which we are allotted the ease of instant communication with one another. The days of hand written letter writing are simmering down or at least so it seems among those I know and speak with. Aside from the few generic template correspondences I've received from business discussing one manner or another. Only one wrote one by hand. The meaning this hand upon was immense.
Today I still write my dad letters. Though much of it could be due to his current situation not allowing him many of the pleasantries associated with instant communication. I have found there to be an elegance in written letters that text messages and e-mails have lacked. Is it the the personalized font (as it were)? The personalized signature? The energy put into the process of writing each thought onto paper as each hemisphere fires off impulse after impulse inside the writers head?
A teacher of mine once told me that it is easy to disregard emails, but people will open an envelope. The feeling is different I can concur. Is it just that the "new" has rubbed off of e-mails and instant communication? Could that be all that it is? As a younger man or child or what ever one chooses to call me when I was first experiencing e-mail messaging, I was excited with each e-mail I received. With a ding of the computer, I would scurry to the computer in excitement. "Woooo! I have an e-mail!" Now I see the mail courier stop at my box and leave behind some envelops and the occasional package. "WOOOO! I've got mail!" I state as I scurry out the door waving at the mail courier as they continue their route. Is it the personal interaction associated with the process? The desire for connected-ness? Has the quest to be connected to the cloud left us disconnected? I often wonder such a thing.
Letter writing is such a simple task and yet each letter is special. Each letter has had it's own journey as it evolved from the thoughts of one person, evolved into a written form, packaged, processed and carried by many others until it reaches it's destination where it can be opened and the information received. I think there is a beauty to that imagery.
To this day I still enjoy each letter I receive. Each one, no matter the contents of the message, are a treasure of time and thought to which I have not quite found in the instant communication of this age.
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