The Handwritten Note; A Precious Point of Contact



I know what you're thinking... "I don't have time to send handwritten notes. They are so sloooow." Now, hold on just one hot second, not all things that are slow are bad. Sloths, for example, are extremely slow and extremely cute, and probably very important to the planet in some major way. School zones - let's be honest, safety is an excellent thing, especially when involving children. The dickens, whatever that means, is potentially a good thing. But for real, SLOW DOWN PEOPLE! Things like sweet friendships, delicious wine, and glaciers (yes, glaciers - this is what happens when I recruit my geology-loving husband to the brainstorming session) don't happen overnight, or in an instant for that matter. So I say, take 10 minutes, sit down at your kitchen table and write a little note to someone you love. Address it, lick the envelope, and drop it in your real, post cemented in the ground, have to go outside to the outside, mailbox. I promise, your heart will fill with joy as you write it - it's nearly impossible to avoid joy when practicing gratefulness and encouragement - and it will be a sweet and lovely gift for the one who receives it. It doesn't need to be perfect, and it doesn't even need to be a special occasion. Maybe it's even better if it's not.

7 comments
Loved this post. I have been sending birthday cards to friends and family for quite a number of years, but didn’t always get much feed back till I started to shorten my list to mostly relatives. I’ve always loved receiving cards myself and love to scrapbook. I keep telling my children that those are my diaries :). I do the cards ahead of time and leave a sticky note on them saying when to mail. People still love receiving mail – thank you again for sharing this post and for your great points.
Lo, I don’t think you’re silly at all! We always love receiving your notes. One’s in the mail for you as well ;). I hope that post-Christmas thank you note session happens, what a great idea!
Shivani — How wonderful is Big Magic? I can’t get enough of it right now. There are so many stellar one-liners in there that I want posted all around my desk.
And, Ayla, I need to follow your lead and get better at sending postcards. Those are such fun keepsakes that can be kept for children and even grandchildren to read!
I LOVE writing letters, but can sometimes get hung up on wanting a response from my friends and loved ones, then I feel guilty! This was an excellent reminder of the joy and love hand-written notes can bring to your favorite people. I loved Big Magic and the quote, “Done is better than good” is going to be written in my home-made planner! Thank you for sharing Whitney!!!
Beautiful post. Thanks for the lovely reminder!
Couldn’t have said it better myself. Writing notes gives me such joy—& people think I’m so silly. :) Someone recommended doing a post-Christmas thank you note session for families with kids: special dessert and hand written notes. Oh, and Whitney, a thank you is in the mail for you. Mwah!
Great post! When I was younger I used to love to receive mail and I even had a penpal. I do miss the pleasure of getting snail mail and reading letters from people. Even a post card. Whenever I go on a trip somewhere I send postcards to my friends and I do have a friend that I write letters to as well. Its really awesome to see a little letter in the mail even if it is about random thoughts.