Wednesday, February 18, 2009

the lost art of letter writing

This post has been swirling in my head for a while -
My list of 25 things reminded me that i still haven't written it -
A blend of my love for paper goods and my own handwriting...

It's called...

The Lost Art of Letter Writing.

I love the feel of my own handwriting.
The swoops and swirls
The way it changes with my mood
Like a mood ring

All caps for tension
Criptic cursive for romance
And my standard - a fluid mix of print and script - for all the normal
days that creep in, one after the other and make life feel like home.

I love the feeling of my favorite pen on unlined paper
Graph paper, drawing paper...thick and so full of space. openness.

I like pens- and only he knows where I keep a stash of my favorites.
Rashioning them one-by-one until the ink goes dry and I can
Sneak out another one to use until the ink fades to nothing.

I love the romance of the hand-written letter.
Picking out the perfect card
Making my own-
Or a stack of blank paper, torn from a notebook,
quickly scribbled to someone dearly loved.

Receiving is special.
But the writing is sublime.

I remember when I was in Africa. Alone and lonely.
I would spend the kids' naptimes writing long letters to friends and
family-
My self-medication to a trying time
It kept me connected, able to process my life when no one was around
for me to talk to.

I remember laying on my purple-quilted-laced-pillow-cased top bunk most
afternoons...
books surrounding me - my journal on my lap
and I would lay on my stomach and write epic letters of my days
to my parents. To my friends. To no one. To everyone.

That was always my favorite time of day. That hour or two of quiet
seclusion.
Spent, pen and paper, alone - trying to connect with the world,
Across seas and sky
Across continents
and miles and miles of loneliness.

1 comments:

Marisa said...

I found your blog via Rachel's blog (my sister-in-law) and just wanted to let you know that this was a great post! I'm glad to know there are other people out there who are obsessed with handwriting + paper goods... :)

 
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