Let the postman ring!

When did you last write a letter to anyone? A postcard maybe? Most of my own correspondence goes via email or text messaging these days and my letterbox only ever gets filled with bills or mailings. I have noticed, however, that in the last few years I have been receiving lots of postcards from friends apart from the usual birthday and Christmas cards which has been a real joy! A few years ago, a friend of mine and I had decided to start writing letters to each other again and once I got started, I really enjoyed it. Admittedly, we are now in touch mainly by phone and the occasional card but we tried at least!

I have boxes filled with old letters and I have never had the heart to throw any of them out, they are bundled by sender and they make me feel quite sentimental whenever I start reading through them. Letters were my lifeblood when I first moved abroad and phone calls were still expensive as was frequent travelling back and forth. There are many things I wouldn’t want back again but letter writing is something that merits reviving, I think. Just like digital photography, emails and text messages are too ephemeral and the tactility of a real photograph or a letter just doesn’t compare. Old acquaintances and friends are still alive in those long ago letter and postcards and the memories get revived every time I look at them. Can you say the same about those thousands of emails and texts?

I looked through the archive and found many moving images of letter writing throughout history – maybe somebody will get inspired and take out pen and paper!