It's almost December, and with it comes the season of children writing letters to Santa with all of their Christmas-present-hopes inside. Or do they write letters these days? Perhaps it's email...I mean texting...tweeting? In any case, as I think about my letters to Santa in the past, I loved that I often got a letter back from the post office saying they had sent the letter to the North Pole, and while I waited for Christmas to come, here were some free holiday window clings to play with (cheap, but effective. I loved putting the little window clings of Rudolph and snowmen on the freezing window glass).
However, as Christmas comes and goes throughout the years, I was thinking that I write very few letters by hand these days (though Grandma always gets a hand written thank you card, of course!) and how tragic it will be if we lose this medium.
Those that know me understand that I am a big proponent of technology, as the shift to the "digital age" has brought us so many wonderful (yes, you may replace wonderful with scary if you so choose) ways to keep in touch with each other over distances that would have taken letters days or weeks to reach. For instance, I can play guitar with crystal clear audio and decent video to a friend in England for free, or text a picture of my cat over wifi despite being in the basement of a house with no cell reception. How neat is that? With IM, you can chat in real time with a coworker in Taiwan while you sit in your pjs at home, or use facebook to organize an event with 500 people while only clicking the "send" button once (much cheaper than stamps).
However, despite all of the niceties that come along with technology, the art (yes, I said art) of composing a hand written letter should not be forgotten. Letter writing contains so many benefits that it is crazy to think of a time when people will no longer convey messages through this time tested medium. For instance, with letter writing more so than email or IM, you really have the ability to compose your thoughts. If you write with a pen, there is no backspace or undo button, and space can be limited, so you get to really consider your words. With the time it takes to deliver a letter, you also get to think about what is most important to write, to make sure you really convey what you had hoped for. Also, letters are so much more personal. They are written by hand, so you see your wonderful calligraphy (or chicken scratch, as it may be) looking back at you. You know that you wrote this, not some anonymous being from the internet (read:chatroulette). When you address the letter, you aren't writing to moniker@some_handle.domain, but to an actual person in a physical place who will physically be there when they read your message. Didn't you imagine Santa reading your letter in front of his fire at the North Pole? You can't get much more personal than that.
Sometimes I miss this, and for this reason I would like to invite you to ask for a letter if you would like me to write you one. All you have to do is request one (you may do so via email if you don't want to leave it in the comments). I don't mind whether or not I know you well, as this is an invitation to all. I also can't promise I will have anything poignant to say, but will write you a letter all the same, and maybe we'll know each other better through the process.
If you would like one, feel free to hit up the comments, send me a private message (if you got here via facebook), or email me at Giffdev (at) gmail (dot com).
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