About a month ago I was finishing up the audiobook version of David McCullough's John Adams. I was utterly amazed at the life that this man led, along with the deep love that he had for his wife. While listening to it, I realized that one of the reasons that we have so much information about the life of this man, along with the relationships that he held with friends and family members (aside from his journal), is because he wrote letters.
I remember thinking how I wanted to start sending letters around to people, friends, people I met while in El Salvador, family, etc. Doesn't the idea of it sound somewhat Romantic? Doesn't a letter, hand-written have more of an appeal than a typed up email?
I still like getting emails from people too though.
With technology making everything so easy (and instantaneous), there is this great opportunity to keep in contact with people like never before. I've got a roommate in Taiwan and we've been sending little things back and forth. It's been a blast and I've chuckled a time or two looking back on the way we express ourselves through writing.
I guess what I'm saying is, writing is about communication. It's also about creating a record. It's also pretty fun and provides a conduit that leads back to countless memories that would have been forgotten if you would have not recorded them in that letter or journal.
I was thinking about this same thing just this weekend when I saw some old letters my grandpa had sent to my grandma while he was in the navy. Letters make great records, but it just isn't the same with emails, written and discarded so casually. The whole genre is kind of disappearing. There's something about getting a physical letter that is just so exciting. I agree that the hand-written letter is more appealing because of the level of attention you have to put into it. We write emails to anyone, but only those special to us deserve the amount of time and effort involved in writing a letter.
ReplyDeleteRomantic...yes. Romantic with a capital "R" - not necessarily the other kind... I just think that letters go too slow. I have a good friend to whom I write letters, and with the pace of the rest of my life, my life and her's expressed in letters, just happens so slow. And it is really disappointing when letters don't come until late.
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to add that because I do write letters --> and maybe somewhere along the way I forgot how sweet it was because all I am left with is a direct and automatic bee-line to the mail box everytime I get home, because maybe they wrote back.
Writing is communication - and the e-mails/ facebook messages --> all of the different ways we have come to express ourselves and sneak a peak at what other people are as well- it is so great, like reading a book, where the characters really are out there somewhere, reading about you too.
Are you in Zachary Hutchins class? I took his class last summer; it was all about early American letters. After reading all John and Abigail’s letters to each other, I was so happy when Abigail finally kicked the bucket (as cruel as this sounds, it wasn’t as cruel as my teacher making me read all of their letters in less than a week). But I agree, hand-written letters feel different, more romantic.
ReplyDeleteSo is there a difference when we keep journals by hand or journals in blogs (like this or more private) online? Is it the personal aspect of handwriting that makes the difference? Just wondering, because I write more online than I do by hand. . . yet I know that getting a note written by hand means something different than an email or text. Just trying to figure out why.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this. I love the romantic ideals expressed through letter writing. Makes me want to write more. Not type, write. My kids ask me why I "scribble" when I sign my name. Maybe if I wrote more it's not too late to improve my handwriting and signature.
ReplyDeleteI also love the idea of progressing a relationship (romantic or other) through letter writing. A letter is more than its content, it's the time, care, and thought involved plus sentiments that seem so much more timeless than email. I think I'm going to write a letter this week.
As a very sentimental person, I love getting notes. In fact, I save them, and I go back an re-read them when I miss the people who wrote them. I think the reason they are more meaningful than emails is because it is like a part of the person is in that sheet of paper. It isn't just the hand writing. It is the paper they went out and bought. It is the care they place in writing each word legibly. It is the folds that they put in the sheet of paper. It is the time they took out of their day to drop the letter at the post office. Most of all, it shows that they are thinking of you. Thank you for reminding me of that box under my bed!
ReplyDeleteYay! love letters are the best! also written histories are something that fascinates me. I love going back and reading my journals from Italy or even better are my journals from high School. It;s so interesting to see the ways we change in life and how we come to be who we are. I think letters are a great way to portray that, whether its conscious or not.
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