Mail Tag. A bit about my obsession with snail mail.

Today, at the prompting of friends Vi at Postal Swing  and Hannah from Rose Tinted Crafting, I will be sharing a bit about my love of letter writing.

1- Do you exchange letters?

Do I exchange letters? Oh my, do I ever.  If you are a regular reader of this blog (and if you aren’t yet, please poke about) you will know that I’m a huge advocate for putting pen to paper in this digital age. I come from a bit of a lettering writing, card sending family, so exchanging letters seems second nature to me.  Time is a factor though, as it is for all of us, so I often opt for postcards, or cards as opposed to multiple paged letters.

2- If so, how long have you been doing it, if not, have you exchanged letters before?

I remember receiving postcards from my grandparents when they were on vacation and letters from friends who lived far from me as a kid. Of course, this was in a time before the internet, when mail was a normal part of life. In fact the term ‘snail mail’ was not yet coined.  I never had a pen pal as a kid, but I had many friends that I exchanged letters with.

3- Do you remember who was your first correspondent?

Yikes, this requires a trip down memory lane.  To be honest, I can’t put a name to the first person I wrote to, but most likely it was family. Then, probably friends made at summer camp.

4- Why did you start exchanging letters?

Well, as I alluded to above, when I was a kid and teenager the digital age had not yet crept into our every day behavior.  If I wanted to keep in touch, it was through a letter or phone call. But the phone was too expensive. Plus, at a young age, I quickly learned to anticipate what the mail box might hold on any given day.  We had a very long lane way at the house I grew up in. So long, that it required a bike if you didn’t want to squander your time. It was the kind of mail box that had a flag on it to indicate if there was mail in it or not.  Whenever I would see that flag up, I would hightail it down the driveway.

5- Have you thought about stopping exchanging letters?

What kind of insanity that would be, to stop exchanging letters! I suppose that the rising cost of stamps here in Canada has made me wonder if others might stop sending mail, but as for me, I would rather buy a package of stamps, than a tea each morning.

6- What is the maximum number of correspondents you have?

I don’t really know. I juggle a few now, but I don’t like the ‘obligation’ feeling that can come with too many correspondents, so I tend to write to people whenever I cannot escape the urge to put pen to paper, not because I feel I ‘owe’ someone a letter. Sorta takes the fun out of it when it becomes a chore.

7- Do you prefer handwritten or typed letters?

I’m not picky. Any letter makes me happy. I do own a typewriter that I love and have used to write letters (I bought a purple ribbon for it, so it’s pretty funky) with, which I think adds to the novelty of the whole experience.  As for handwritten letters, well you can’t get much better than that. It’s like the person who wrote it has stepped in the room with you, their handwriting speaking for them, their personality.  The messier the handwriting the better in my mind. Such character those scratches, scribbles, spelling errors, after thoughts in the margins. I love it all.

8- How do you define the sensation of receiving a letter?

Receiving a letter has a magical quality. It appears mysteriously in a box, with no warning, is delightful and you just never know what is inside. It speaks to all the senses. I most often rip open the envelope after first guessing who the sender might be.  I like to look at the stamp, return address, all of it.  Then, to hold it in your hands, the paper that someone else took the time to sit down and write out their thoughts to you, is incredibly meaningful. The act of receiving a letter (as well as writing one) forces you to slow down.  And this is where the real magic happens. Taking the time to savor the little things in life, that’s what opening a letter does.

9- Do you prefer to write or receive letters?

I think I love both equally.  Writing a letter is a time for me to go analog in a digital drenched world. To get away from all the distractions and physically interact with my thoughts on paper. My letters are pretty random, in the sense that whatever I’m thinking I write down.  This may be challenging for the reader to follow my thought pattern, I don’t know.  Nothing beats receiving a letter, especially when you don’t expect it, but one thing is true, you won’t receive a letter unless you send one.

10-  Tag! You’re it. If you blog take these questions and write a post. If you don’t blog, but are interested in letter writing, answer one of these questions in the comments here. I would love to read your answers.

P.S. Photos shared here are a sampling of letters I’ve received recently, my very messy drawer of stationery, and some lovely cards made for me by Just Write Studios