There was a time, not so long ago, when receiving a handwritten letter was a perfectly (0) ORDINARY event. Today, it has become something of a rarity. For most of us, the sight of an envelope addressed in an unfamiliar hand immediately suspicion: is it a bill, an advertisement, or perhaps an invitation to yet another wedding?
The decline of personal correspondence is hardly surprising. Emails arrive in seconds, text messages are even quicker, and social media allows us to keep with friends without making any real effort at all. Letters, by contrast, require time, thought and, increasingly, the effort of finding an envelope and a stamp. It is little , then, that the tradition has into disuse.
And yet something valuable is being lost. A letter forces the writer to their thoughts carefully and to commit to a form of expression that cannot be casually edited or deleted. For the reader, too, the experience is qualitatively different: a letter occupies physical space, the handwriting of the sender, and can be reread years later without the risk of being buried by newer messages.
Perhaps it is time that we rediscovered the pleasure of picking up a pen. Writing to a friend need not be a grand literary ; a few heartfelt lines can mean far more than a dozen hurried emails.