The other day at the office, I missed an opportunity to go to the post office.  A work friend stopped by my desk and mentioned she had just returned from the post office, and I said, “Oh, man! I was going to mail this today,” and I pulled a Moleskine journal out of my computer bag.  My friend, Tommy Brooks, and I write to each other using this journal.  Yeah, it’s old school, and it’s different, but I think it’s really cool.

One of us writes a letter, just writing in the journal… then mails the notebook to the other guy.  As you quickly noticed, we will have a bunch of letters to each other together in the notebook when all is finished.  Who gets the notebook when it’s done?  I don’t know, but I know between me and Tommy that won’t be an issue.  It has already been a good experience for me, and we just started the process!  He wrote me, sent the journal, now I’m writing him and will send the notebook soon.

This reminds me of a time when I used to write letters almost daily.  My two freshman semesters of college, I wrote over 100 letters.  Can’t you just send email?  Can’t you just instant message?  Well, it isn’t a matter of ability, it’s a matter of choice.  There is something drastically different about receiving a physical something in the mail to read than in getting just another email.  Even if it is a long, nice email, drawn out with pictures and links.

You can’t curl up with an email.  You can’t get away from an electronic device with an email.  You can’t hold an email.  You can’t touch an email.  It takes more time to write a letter, and hence more thought.  It takes a different movement of the mind and hand, and more effort to send.  In the end, it is more rewarding for me, too, because it feels like something has been accomplished.  Later, I can go back to it, without opening my computer or iPhone… no browser or application required.

Writing letters is an exercise in thought and love.  My sincere desire is to retain 2 to 4 pen pals throughout my life.  There is a sharpening of the mind and an enlarging of the heart that accompanies the writing of letters.  And I get to practice my handwriting.  🙂

Anybody can writer an email.  Not just anyone is willing to write a letter.