How are you? Trust all is well on your end!
Things are going well for me; work has been really busy and I've also been working on The Upbeat Collective Project. It's been both an exciting and nerve-wracking experience, especially as I've never created or worked on a community action project before. I guess it's good to get out of one's comfort zone and I know I have lots more to learn and engage in.
I thought I'd let you know about a letter I recently wrote to a friend in London. I met him about 8 years ago when I went on my OE and over the years we've exchanged the odd message on email and Facebook. Last year we caught up when he visited New Zealand and it was great to reminisce about the cultural beast that is London. I remember telling him how I greatly missed the wonderful galleries and museums teeming with treasure troves of art, artefacts and history. On the flip side I definitely didn't miss the sardine like experience of venturing on the Tube.
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| Me in London, 2006 |
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| Tube memories |
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| Tate Modern |
Several weeks ago he messaged me on Facebook and suggested we write letters to each other. I could understand his request, especially as he has a penchant for writing and a respect for the written word. I didn't baulk at the request and instantly recalled many a penpal I had as a teenager. I was an avid fan of Tearaway and 'RTR Countdown' magazines and back in the day, it was common to find a section for finding penpals. I remember putting a simple ad into those magazines... I mentioned I had interests in reading, sports, Boyz to Men and Mariah Carey. Cringe factor indeed.
I received about 40 replies from both magazines and managed to stay in touch with a few of them over the span of a few years. One of them still remains a friend and it was coincidental that we ended up going to the same Uni together. Gosh, that was about 16 years ago now.
Letter writing as a teenager was exciting and very natural to me. I enjoyed finding quality writing paper (thick paper was best) and would spend my pocket money on buying fine tipped pens. I was proud of my writing and enjoyed keeping the letters well formed on the page, and if need be, used lined tracing paper to keep my sentences from veering off into weird directions.
I never had a problem coming up with content to and usually told them about my favourite movies and music. Pretty inoffensive stuff, but it showed my early appreciation for the arts. It was such a thrill to receive letters, the letter box would be bursting at the seams, my name written onto an envelope by someone else's hand. There was something special about being let into someone else's world and it made me think how that person would've been sat at a table, a desk, or even on the floor when writing the letter. Were they listening to music? Were they in a noisy environment? The fact they took time to write the letter seemed such a focussed and considerate thing to do.
Fast forward to 2014 and I recently wrote the letter to my friend in London. Believe it or not I struggled to find decent writing paper from the shops (apparently there isn't big demand for it now) but found some paper from a random shop at Dressmart(!). The process of writing was easy and the content flowed in a way that is different from typing or sending a message via social media. I must confess, my hand did hurt after a while and I honestly pu
I was IN the moment. I was LIVING through the hand written print. I could see myself in my writing. No longer a teen, my writing is still legible I smiled at the way I loop the letters g and y. I felt reflective when writing the letter and also felt a duty of care to keep it authentic and real. Maybe it's because I knew I couldn't hide behind a type face or font, a hashtag, a status update or a 'like'.
I feel nostalgic and even lamenting about the demise of the written letter. Yes, I do admit to being a big fan of social media and I love connecting with my friends on Facebook. But there are times when I dig out my old boxes of letters, cards and mementos and realise how precious those items are to me; to know a letter was marked by a person's hand fills me with a joy I can't explain. Letters express emotion, they share experience and memories, they provide information and they can inspire and provide comfort.
I intend to 'revive' my letter writing endeavours and look forward to exchanging mail with my friend in London. I may baulk at the price of sending a letter now, but this can't replace the excitement of seeing a letter dangling perilously out of the mailbox opening.
So I leave you with this... if you are an avid letter writer, then well done for maintaining this valuable craft! I also am envious of your commitment to the hand written form. If you are less familiar or out of practice, then i encourage you to pick up a pen, find some paper (in fact, any type of paper is fine!) and write a letter to someone who haven't seen in a while. Tell them about what you've been up to. Reminisce about the past. Share some words of hope.
You will be gifting them with a letter that captures all your good intentions and will undoubtedly put a smile on their face. Trust me on this.
I leave you with this quote from the writer Haruki Marukami:
"How wonderful it is to be able to write someone a letter! To feel like conveying your thoughts to a person, to sit at your desk and pick up a pen, to put your thoughts into words like this is truly marvelous".
Till next time, take care and do look after yourself.
Andrew
PS: Let me know if you write a letter! :)
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