When was the last time you closed your laptop or walked away from your computer, grabbed a pen & a greeting card, and boycotted sending an email as your chosen form of communication?
This morning, I did just that. Instead of sending emails, I closed my laptop and took the challenge to hand write greeting cards while enjoying a cup of coffee.
Sending snail mail nowadays seems so foreign in a way? It is still the slowest route for communication.
Snail mail is the term coined as early as 1942.
Snail mail has a long history as a way to communicate with others. Sad but true, it appears that snail mail is slowly losing ground to the ease of online correspondence. It is pretty rare to even have to send out bill payments the snail mail route now that we can pay bills online.
But there is a certain charm in sending via snail mail that you don’t get by communicating online.
Don’t you love it when you get something handwritten in the mail instead of bills or junk mail? I know I do. As I sat down at the table to write out cards today, I looked out at the rainy day and my mind wandered.
I had a hard time remembering when was the last time I sent a card via the snail mail route. It wasn’t that long ago, maybe a month or so more? But it is definitely not an everyday thing for me. I find I need an excuse to do it like a birthday, an anniversary, get well, a thank you, or I’m thinking about someone occasion. There’s nothing new to write about to those I regularly keep in touch with via Facebook, texting or Snapchat.
Isn’t it sad how we’re letting social media take over snail mail for keeping in touch? A trend even a 5-year project to revive snail mail ending in 2017 couldn’t stop.
As I looked at my pile of cards in front of me on the table, I thought, “Maybe I just need to start sending out cards, so I get more back?” Will that work? I hope so!
I love it when I get a handwritten card in the mail. That’s how pen pals used to work. You’d send a card out to someone, then they’d write you back.
Sending snail mail does take away all the immediate gratification we get via instant messaging. But snail mail helps with building your patience and creates a sense of anticipation. Plus you get exercise walking to the mailbox to check for incoming mail. You don’t get that with email, do you?
When I think back to my high school years, I loved writing and sending postcards. I had several pen pals across the US. I collected and displayed the cards they sent me in my bedroom. I was pretty proud of my collection. Every time I looked at them, I’d smile and appreciate the time it took for my pen pals to sit down and write to me.
I recently sorted through the collection and tossed out most during my mission to de-clutter. I’ve saved a few of them to share with my friends the next time I see them.
Oh my, that reminds me, it is probably time to send them a text or email to get together…or better yet, I should just send a snail mail card telling them I’m thinking of them.
Time to buy more stamps! EverydayAdventures2017 – Snail Mail
