I sent off a couple letters today. It was an amazing cool and sunny morning here; a perfect day for the 30 minute walk to the post office and back. I don't have much reason to send letters these days-- most everyone is text or Twitter savvy and those "tools" fully preclude any need to wait for someone to look at their email. Although, if one really needs to expound on a topic, one could use email. I guess.
But, with that said, consider this: I sent off two letters today. The first to an 80 year old photographer friend in Denver-- a retired attorney who values his fountain pens and stationery more than his computer. The letter to him was short and sweet and written in responser to the arrival of his latest card and photograph. He says he has email but he doesn't correspond with real people that way.
The other letter I sent off was to my son at camp, and that was also short and sweet. Email is available to parents to send along to be delivered to the lucky camper by their counselors. But I choose to write on paper, to include a relevant photo, sign it "Love, Dad," seal it in a thick paper envelope, put a stamp on it, and drop it in a mailbox. All that work for such a short message. But, in the case of this letter to camp, I hope it arrives like a present. Not simply a communication but a little packet that shows care, concern, and the hope that what was sent was worth cherishing.
Most of us don't send letters anymore. I realize that's a function of convenience to a large extent, but I also have to wonder if it doesn't somehow reflect on our values and the value we place on communication. A business update? A quick update for the family? Do it in an email.
And when I think of Twitter I think of a heartfelt need and hope to be seen as relevant. A commentator. It's not so much an opportunity to be truly thoughtful or intellectual, certainly not an opportunity to provide depth or substance-- even if our own Mr. President does succeed rather spectacularly in using Twitter to become truly memorable, if not despicable. Tweets are like a wadded up note, tossed at its recipient's head, bouncing off and landing on their desk-- "fish sticks and mac and cheese today!" #yummy.
With perhaps an exception to that last reference to our Commander in Chief, I have no beef with tweeting, texting, and email. It's where we live. But if you have something worth saying, something you want someone to hold in their hand, to be able to tuck in a drawer to be pulled out and held and read again the next day, the next month, year, or decade, maybe once in a while you should commit your thoughts to paper. At least while your kid's at camp.
