Why you need a Pen Pal

I’ve previously written about my love for letters, and also about my group on Facebook, The Snail Mail Project.

It’s slowly growing momentum, we’re now up to 47 members, who are all sending gorgeous happy mail to one another. It really makes me happy to see so many people making friends across the world and receiving beautiful mail through the post!
Anyway, I was talking to one of the members of the group a week or so ago who inspired me to write a series of blogs on the subject, and I felt that a good starting point was “why you need a pen pal!” It’s such a dying art form these days, writing letters. It’s not common for people to put pen to paper in the digital age. So why do it?

Stationary.

If you’re a stationary fiend, just like I am with my mountains of journals, writing letters is an excuse to lay your hands on more beautiful paper. And there’s some stunning writing sets out there. Paperchase is my “go-to” but you can get plenty of beautiful sets from Amazon, TK Maxx and beyond!

Time away from screens.

In a day where we are glued to the screens of laptops, TV’s, phones and tablets, there’s something really relaxing about switching all that stuff off, and it being just you, a piece of paper and a pen. I feel like I’m living right in the present, and being absolutely mindful when I’m writing a letter.

You make a new friend.

How much fun is it getting to know someone new? Through the joy of both sending someone a letter and receiving one back, you also get to know a whole new person! You may even find that it opens opportunities to go and visit a new part of the country, or even the world.
It doesn’t just have to be words on a piece of paper

You can get really creative with the letter. You can make it look beautiful. You can personalise it. You can even include a gift! If you want to keep it to the price of a stamp, different tea bags can be good (who doesn’t love a good brew whilst they either read a letter, or write back?). Post cards with inspirational words on might be included or photos of your favourite things, places or people, which can help to paint the picture of your life.

Local delicacy’s can be included too, although this might increase the cost of sending a little. This brings me nicely on to…

It’s cheap!

Sure, postage stamps aren’t as cheap as they used to be (I remember getting a 2nd class stamp for about 18p with my first pen pal as a child), but the price is still totally affordable. The only thing you need to be rich in, is time.

Personal

It’s difficult to be impersonal in a letter. When writing by hand, you’re more likely to write informally in comparison to typing. We type emails out at work all day long, so putting pen to paper breaks us from our usual habits. We pour a bit of a soul into the written word in comparison to when we express ourselves electronically.

You can keep them

I’ve not saved a text message since the guy I fancied sent me one that gave me butterflies when I was about 15. Text messages are so transactional I don’t want to keep them anyway. But letters. Someone has put their time, thought and effort into that. Even if I wanted to, I can’t put handwritten letters in the bin. I still have letters that I shared with my friends when I was a teenager, and that attachment to a letter hasn’t changed at all.

If you write a letter, you’ll probably get one back!

And it will be a lovely suprise when it arrives. It will make your day. And guess what?

You get to make someone else’s day!

What better feeling than knowing that you have been the part of the day that made someone smile. They may have had a rubbish day at work (or they may have had a brilliant one), but coming home to your letter, might just be the thing that makes it.