Letter Writing Day: When Was The Last Time You Wrote A Letter?

  Posted on December 7, 2015  by Joy of Living  No comments

I’m venturing off the topic of pets a bit today to discuss today’s unique “holiday,” Letter Writing Day. In this age of technology we’ve become used to texting or emailing to communicate with others.  Both work well for quick thoughts but they seem quite impersonal.

History of Letter Writing Day

Letter Writing Day was established by Richard Simpkin as a tribute to the joy and excitement he felt when a hand-written letter would arrive in his mailbox. I agree with Mr. Simpkin, I think it’s fun to get a letter in the mail rather than yet another email in my inbox that I will either delete or skim before moving on to the next one.

Simpkin was working on a project called “Australian Legends”, and would send out letters to everyone he considered to be an Australian Legend with the interest of arranging a personal interview and photography session.

Imagine the impact a handwritten letter would make vs. an email when contacting someone influential to schedule an interview.  A handwritten letter denotes more thought and effort to put thoughts on paper than an email or phone call.

Ways to Celebrate Letter Writing Day

Simply start writing! If you’re a business owner, sending a handwritten letter to your clients thanking them for doing business with you is a great personal touch that sets you apart from most of the competition.  I used to use an automated service to send holiday cards to clients.  Even though there was a font I could use to insert a greeting on each card, it wasn’t the same as actually writing the cards out myself.  Yesterday, I wrote and addressed holiday cards to my clients.

On a personal note, send a letter to a grandparent or parent who was around when there was no other option to communicate with someone far away. Phone calls were all very well and good, but they were quite expensive, and letters were cheap to send through the post. Take the opportunity provided by Letter Writing Day to work on your writing skills, and let a loved one know they’re worth a little extra effort.

In this age of technology, take some time to go old school and write someone a letter.  You will be surprised how much closer you’ll feel to that person as you write, and the one receiving the letter will appreciate it more than you realize!

Photo credit: Writing to reach you via photopin (license)