Staying Connected

I love writing letters. I really do.

There's something really soothing about taking half an hour to sit down with some stationery and a pen and devote the time to concentrating on your friend, your friendship, in a manner that has gone the way of the VCR and tape deck. Or, should I say, black and white television and X.

And in this multitasking world we live in, there's nothing nicer than receiving a handwritten letter, filled with a loved one's characteristic loops and slants and little scratch marks. I have some great friends who include little bits of love in every letter they send - photos, CDs, even earrings [those are not easy to mail!] Every time I receive one, I vow that I will be a better friend, will send correspondence more frequently, that I, too, shall include little bits of friendship right back, moments out of my day and handmade tokens of affection.

Sadly, I go through spurts of letter writing followed by long dry spells. I'm not sure what it is - lack of inspiration, tiring of the same old stationery [even though I have a drawerfull, there is never quite the inspiring piece when you need one. What's up with that?]

But I think it would also help to keep a little stationery kit on me at all times. Compact, holding a card or two, several sheets of stationery with matching envelope, a couple stamps, a pen. That way a quick note can be dashed off in the little crevices of life - in line for tickets, while waiting at the bus stop, at the laundromat.

I keep thinking that I want to wait for the start of a new year to renew my pledge to handwritten [on top of handmade and hand cooked ... are you noticing a trend here?], but really, why wait? I'm sure when 2009 rolls around I'll have difficulty enough paring down my list of resolutions [I chopped the list to 5 this year, and I don't know that I'm doing very well on that list so far]. And really, friendship shouldn't wait. So. Off to finish that letter to Jamie that I started while waiting for dinner.