Since moving to the UK nearly three years ago I have been very particular about my means of communication with those at home. While email and Internet chats are fantastically useful ways to communicate with someone across an ocean for free I have always felt these methods lack personality, thoughtfulness and meaning. The age in which we live in is one of an ever-shrinking world. And it is all too easy to forget just how far away from people and places you actually are when a video call can put you in someone’s lounge halfway around the world.
Because of these qualms with modern communication I have carried out most of my correspondence by post. That’s right, good old fashioned letters. Writing an average of two a week during the summer and slightly fewer during term-time. There is something supremely pleasing about the act of writing a letter. There is plenty of time to process thoughts and formulate ideas, and a shared understanding by both sender and recipient as to the time and effort involved in putting pen to paper; something nostalgic about seeing words written in somebody’s hand and an appreciation for the distance a letter has traveled when you notice the date on the postmark. The pleasure of noticing the currency in which the stamp is printed or the formatting used by the country of the sender is unique and simple. None of which ever fails to put a smile on my face and cheer me more than any email ever could.
Because of my love for letters when I respond to post I always do so in a manner that aims to make my response not only a meaningful piece of information to its addressee, but also a testament to the importance I feel this communication holds. Every letter is written on parchment in fountain pen, meticulously formatted, sealed with a wax seal and posted using a stamp bearing the portrait of the queen. I do all of this in hopes that the receiver will smile as brightly as I did while writing, and truly experience the sunshine of the light of letters.
If this had inspired anybody to write, my mailing address is as follows (or feel free to leave your address in the comments so I may write):
Daniel S. Whiteley
23 Melbourne Place
St. Andrews Fife
KY16 9EY
Scotland UK
I'll try to write, Dan. My kids would enjoy seeing your response. I rarely send written correspondence anymore. In fact, I rarely write anything by hand anymore. When I do, my hands cramps almost immediately. I'm out of practice. If I had to take the average high school course with notebook requirements, my hand would fall off.
ReplyDeletePostage from the US is 98 cents for a letter. :D
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