I've always loved writing letters in some form or another. Back in school my friend Sarah and I wrote letters to each other even though we saw each other practically every day. At one point we even had a notebook that we kept all of our letters in and just passed the book backwards and forwards. When I was at university in Barcelona I would send a weekly round robin email to everyone in my address book; ridiculously long emails that I doubt were of any interest to most of the recipients back home, but it was my way of feeling like I was at home. Fast forward a year to my placement in Paris, my friend Katie and I would sit in the laundrette on a Monday evening and both write letters to her sister Louise who was back home in England. It became a bit of a joke that we'd be talking about what one of us was writing and commenting on it in our own letter.
I don't know when I stop writing letters regularly. Probably when I joined Facebook and realised how much easier it was to keep in touch with everyone with the simple click of a button. I don't think it's laziness so much as wanting to treat all my friends and family the same. I could send one or two people lovely long letters or quickly say 'Hi' to about twenty within the space of a few minutes.
But there's something special about a letter though, don't you think? I love coming home from work and seeing the familiar writing of a friend or family member on an envelope and opening it carefully with my letter opener before curling up on the sofa and reading it. When I read a letter from someone I know I tend to hear their voice in my head and it's like they are there talking to me. I appreciate the time that has gone into writing it and the fact that they may have had to go our and buy stamps and find a post box (I'm lucky, my nearest is right opposite my house).
Tomorrow is the start of 'Thinking of You Week' which encourages people to spread happiness by sending a card to a different person each day. Phoenix Trading have supported this initiative since it started three years ago and this year they created a 'Thinking of You' Card Selection Pack with enough cards for each day of this special week. What makes it even better is that £1 from the sale of each pack sold will be donated to Mind which is a cause close to my heart.
I haven't decided who I'll be sending my cards to yet (and even if I did I wouldn't say because I want it to be a surprise), but I will be spending my lunch breaks this week writing them so that I can get them in the post when I get home in the evening. Maybe this will encourage me to write letters more often like I used to, in which case I'm sorry if they become as long as they were in the old days. I like to ramble. I'd encourage you all to take part in 'Thinking of You Week' and would like to know who you would write your seven cards to and why?
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