‘Greetings…My Incomparable Brother'

I used to be a prolific letter writer. A book of twelve stamps used to last a week or two. Now, I can’t really afford a book of twelve stamps and they would last a lot longer. I write to one person faithfully sometimes weekly, sometimes fortnightly depending on what other things I have to do first. Sometimes it depends on whether there is enough in the purse for a cup of coffee as I settle upon a table in a local café. In some places there is an hour limit, though no one has yet told me to move on.

We have all moved into emails and chatting on line and, with a flurry of thumbs, we send something that takes such a little time. Along with the thumbs it is the gut that composes the note. It’s all immediate. It is craft-less.

I like writing, so it is no chore to sit and write a letter. My life might be rather mediocre at times but the way I write it makes it look exciting!

Why write at at all? I am not good with phones. Part of that is loss of hearing. I play around trying to find the best place beside the ear that maximises volume. And after a phone conversation, not matter how lovely it was, it is memory now. There is nothing solid to remind me of what was said. I have to point out at this point that I am a hoarder. Throwing things out is just not in my DNA.

I facilitate a creative writing group. One of the tasks I left them to do in their own time was to write a letter to someone. I gave them envelopes with sheets of paper folded inside, and a stamp on the front. For the most part there was an easy rumble about who they might write to but there was one man who declared he had never written a letter in his life and he wasn’t going to start now,

But back to that question of why write.

Steve Toepfer from Kent State University says “you’ll feel happier, you’ll feel more satisfied, and if you’re suffering from depressive symptoms, your symptoms will decrease.” Thinking and writing helps you count your blessings and notice some of the beauty

n your life. It needs to be said that I am not referencing quotes. This is not a university essay. Feeling happier – I can attest to that. I have been known to kiss the envelope and I post it.

It makes you pause long enough to say things that matter. Emails and chats? Gut writing at best. Letters are deliberate. You have something you need to say and you make the time to say it well, no misunderstandings, no haste.

Imagine the surprise of someone getting a letter. Bill after bill hitting the carpet under the letter box is disheartening. I hover when I know I am due a letter from my sister. I stand beside a window, best light possible, and read slowly, soaking up what’s written. It makes my day.

It doesn’t have to be a ten-page missive. One page. Or a card perhaps, those blank-inside ones. Tip it sideways and off you go. Or if that is too much, buy a postcard, write a few sentences and send it off. I am a ten-page missive girl, but so is my sister. I would feel I was robbing her if I wrote less. Sometimes buying nice note paper and a new pen can help.

The post office used to run a letter writing competition. I don’t know if they still do. I suspect not, although the carrot of a reward would get people writing and sending letters. Maybe I could start my own competition.

Once you can get past the opening greeting things improve – Hey you, Hi, Howdy, Hello, Dear – I opt for ‘Hi’.

I tend to just dive in. I usually have no specific reason to write. There are things to share, like the card from the Amazon deliverer to tell me the package is in the brown bin in among the grass cuttings and my attempts too reach it – short arm, tall bin, you can picture it.

I have taken to listing all the things my sister wrote about on the envelope so I know what needs to be covered and what doesn’t. I can usually get away with saying, ‘Sorry the boys lost their football match 12-0. Maybe Sam is not the best person to put in goal.’ Yes, I’ve changed names to protect the identity of great nieces and nephews.

Start a new paragraph when you are changing subjects. It is easier on the eye than a big block of text. My sister and I talk about books. She reads Korean love stories. I am reading Jack Reacher levelling a machine gun at the baddies and mowing them down.

She asks me to add names to a prayer list. I have such a list and, yes, I pray. The list is long and I cherry pick but over the week everyone gets a mention. I ask her to add names to hers. She is the more faithful of us two. It occurs to me that we don’t tend to remove someone from a list once they are on it. We don’t always give updates either.

We share love and hugs at the end and even though we know who did the actual writing and who didn’t, husbands are included in the closing ‘with love from…’

So, all that leaves you to do is to find paper and pen, envelope and stamp and enjoy crafting a letter.

Joyful Scrawlings.