When I went to get the mail yesterday, the bundle contained the usual junk mail, a bill, and a card addressed to me in a lovely cursive script I recognized. I thought for a moment, when was the last time I received a handwritten letter or a card or even a note? Months? Years?
In our age of social media, with quick to very quick to very, very quick flashes of correspondence, I think the art of taking time to write a handwritten letter to someone we care about might be fading or maybe it already has been replaced by the stream of so many new ways to communicate: emojis, likes, dislikes, photos, images, links, texts, and many more I’m not even aware of. Maybe emails are thing of the past?
Sigh….
I guess my preferred way of connecting with my loved ones are a little outdated –still preferring to sit at my desk and write a letter filled with details about the weather, what I bought at the farmer’s market, a book I just read, my hopes and inspirations; all those mundane minutiae that somehow make me feel closer to my son who lives on the other side of the Pacific Ocean or my extended family or those friends I haven’t seen for years.
Standing in line at the grocery store this morning, I eyed a new display stand full of attractive cards; photos on the front of each of them depicting beautiful images of local flora and fauna. I bought several, thinking of who I might send them to, and later, wrote a card to my son who I haven’t seen since before the pandemic began and likely will not see for another year, taking so much joy to write about my life here –almost as if he was in the next room. It’s not the same, I know, but that little bit of comfort made my cup feel half full instead of half empty. What a great thing.
How did you find solace this week?
Sharon
© 2021. Sharon Kreider. All Rights Reserved
