A letter-a-day keeps loneliness away – for the writer and the receiver. Somehow, receiving a letter rather than an email (which is okay too) is more exciting, more uplifting, and more of a visual reminder that we are cared for.
Perhaps you’ll send a letter-a-day to one person, or to seven individuals with whom you’d like to keep in contact. Maybe sending seven cards nested together to one person at the end of a week is your preferred approach. Or, nesting two or three cards works too, as a letter packet that creates joyful surprise.
Before electronic communications and recordkeeping, telephones, and cellphones, people wrote letters on paper by hand on a daily or weekly basis. Written communication was the only option for long distance communication, until the telegraph came onto the scene. Taking time to write a letter means you are participating in historic activity – means that you are documenting or creating history by the very act of writing and sending a letter or card.
Picture your own excitement when a letter – not a bill, not a notice, not an advertisement – arrives in your mailbox. Are you smiling? Savoring the letter during a relaxed with a beverage? Or, do you immediately open and begin reading?
Now, imagine that same exciting experience for someone to whom you send a letter. Maybe the person has shared the excitement with you already.
The letter-a-week approach has been lauded as a way to express gratitude, to stay connected with family, and to communicate care to people you don’t see often. In fact, Elton John and David Furnish shared with Marlo Thomas and Phil Donahue (for their 2020 book What Makes a Marriage Last) that they write a letter every week to each other. When at home, the letters are exchanged in person. When on the road, the letters are mailed or sent by courier. Says David, “with that card and that handwriting, you feel the soul of the other person.” Communication is the key to all relationships.
Sending a card is a memorable – and even keepsake – way to communicate. Whether you print or write in cursive, or create calligraphy, write someone a letter. Whether you have a story to share, a memory to revisit, or a word of encouragement, write it down and send the letter. When you are feeling alone, consider who uplifts your spirits and write them a letter to jumpstart a pen-pal exchange or a phone call conversation.
Whom is on your list to reach out to this week? Who would like to hear from you? Challenge yourself to send a card or letter-a-day. You may be surprised at the joy and rewards that follow.
Photo note: French Quarter Impressions by Peg Owens for NestingCards®.
NestingCards videos here: Welcome to NestingCards – YouTube
Nesting shares ideas for using NestingCards® and tips for creating keepsake memories on these cards which are printed with original images and paintings on fine papers. The written word shares joy, creates memories, and can envelope a sense of home! Enjoy browsing and shopping www.NestingCards.com for fun, for gifts, and for joy-spreading possibilities.
NestingCards® is a registered Trademark, United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Jana Kemp
