Letter Lover
By Aoife Broad
At the risk of sounding like a cheesy teen vogue columnist from 2006 – nothing says “I love you” like a letter.
Our phones are fantastic for keeping in touch regularly. They help make distance in times like these feel not quite as bad. But a lot of us aren’t happy in our attempts to create (or maintain!) meaningful connections and relationships with one another.
The same communication methods that have made life so easy, have also made the way we talk to each other become distracted, monotonous, and almost boring.
The shortness of texts has impacted the way we express our affections for one another. We talk in emojis. A call is a scary alternative to the easier text. A lot of people find their next date through swiping right on a screen. In a sense, screens are the great equaliser of communication – lining up notifications from work e-mails alongside messages from our crush of the week.
Communication has become easier than ever before, and honestly – kind of dull.
A text can express what you want to instantly – so why bother sending a letter?
Letters are special because hardly anyone sends them, and especially right now, when a lot of our communication happens online.
They evoke something special – a nostalgia for a time we might not have known, and a feeling of being appreciated.
Modern communication might be efficient. But I’d argue that it doesn’t mean half as much as getting a handwritten letter in the post.
In a letter, each word counts. Not only are you physically limited by the size of the page, but you want your words to weigh as much as the sentiment contained within.
Unlike digital communication, a letter is something that can be held onto. Even after its initial reading, it stays on as something that reminds them of a particular time, place, person, or feelings. Letters are more than a few hasty words. They stand the test of time.
Putting words to paper is also a therapeutic act. It demands the author gather their thoughts before committing them to paper. Texting is reactionary; you have to reply consistently to have an ebb and flow in the conversation. Writing is so much more deliberate. The words are written because you want them to be given.
Letters are also a beautiful way to let people know that they really matter to you. From thinking about what you want to write, ensuring that the words make sense, to the letter’s eventual delivery – it’s a worthwhile practice. The “loving you” of letters doesn’t have to be romantic either; there’s love in the simple act of writing to an old friend.
Maybe I just love letters because my parents sent them to each other for years while separated by distance. They met in New Zealand, knew each other for 3 weeks, and then wrote letters to each other for
3 years while my mum was living in Ireland.
This year, they’ll have been married 30 years.
Sure, letters take time and effort to craft – but so do a lot of things that are worthwhile.
Aoife Broad is an artist and airplane food snob based in Wellington, New Zealand. Follow her on Instagram @aoifebroad.
