He cut a piece of paper into a flower shape, colored it, and wrote a few short sweet words in black ink. He then gave it to my roommate and put it on my pillow. The next day, the Stargazer received her beautiful, huge bouquet of lilies.
Those flowers are long gone, but they are the notes I want to keep forever. This is the first “love letter” she received from her husband, written a quarter of a century ago. It’s tucked away in a small box, along with other short notes he wrote on post-its, and long letters he wrote on engineering paper while we were in college.
I’m not very sentimental, and I throw far more than keepers, but I don’t think Corey ever threw a single thing handwritten to me. There’s something about seeing your loved one’s handwriting, whether it’s scribbled words, doodles, or ink smudges, that makes you feel loved in a way that social media messages never do.
Corey and I rarely write notes to each other, nor do we write long handwritten love letters. But I can’t help but think that our relationship would benefit if we did.
letter science
in fact, Kent study We provide a proof of this theory. In 2007, Steve Toepfer, associate professor of human development and family studies, took a sample of 219 “relatively happy” undergraduates. Each student was required to complete a series of questionnaires regarding her health during her first week of study. Toepfer then divided the students into control and experimental groups. Each was obliged to return to the Institute three times over the next three weeks. The control group only filled out a weekly questionnaire, while the experimental group wrote a thank you letter before completing the questionnaire.
Characters must be meaningful. A simple thank you note was not enough. When the study ended, Toepfer found that the more letters students wrote, the better their happiness and overall life satisfaction. Did.
“What we learned from this study is that if you want to increase your well-being through intentional activity, spend 15 minutes three times over three weeks and write: [a] Toepfer said in an article by Emily Vincent on the Kent State University website. “This is a cumulative effect. Writing over time can make you feel happier, more satisfied, and, if you suffer from depressive symptoms, less symptoms.
The world needs more love letters
Hannah Brentcher discovered the art of letter writing after she excitedly moved to New York City after graduating from college for her dream job. Instead of experiencing the fulfillment she wanted, she found herself battling depression. She then took to social media and offered to write to anyone asking for a handwritten letter.In a very short period of time, her inbox was filled with requests.
Brencher’s casual letter campaign blossomed more than she could have imagined, and now she’s “The world needs more love lettersIts main purpose is to connect people through letter writing.
and TED talkBencher explains that a stranger noticed her large mailbox and asked her why she didn’t just use the Internet.
her reaction was
I can tell you about a woman whose husband has just returned from Afghanistan and is having trouble unlocking this thing called Conversation. Find me when you can…or the man who has decided to take his own life and uses Facebook as a way to say goodbye to his friends and family. You sleep safely on a pile of letters tucked under your pillow, scripted by strangers who have been there.
From this experience, Bencher firmly believes that letter writing is an art. She has the intention of sitting down with a pen and a piece of paper and thinking about someone the whole time she writes a letter, the intention is to open a browser and texts and snaps come in and social media updates keep us going. “(Writing a letter) is an art form that doesn’t bow down to Goliath saying, ‘Let’s go faster,'” she said.
love letter in real life
I don’t think you get many love letters. I know not.according to 2021 CBS News Article, no one really does. Thirty-seven percent of the Americans surveyed for this article say it’s been more than five years since he wrote or received a personal letter. Also, he has never written more than one personal letter to her five of the adults under the age of 45. Society may have passed the age of writing letters.
But remember the last time you found a handwritten envelope in your mailbox filled with credit card applications and campaign ads? Did it warm you to know that someone took the time to reach out to you? On those rare occasions, does imagining someone you love reading the words you write give you a slight surge of adrenaline?
It’s hard to slow down long enough to share love with someone in this fast-paced world, but a notebook and pen are probably just what you need to do so. You may need to consider doing
Prolific author Mary Potter Kenyon has made letter writing part of her daily routine for decades, and even wrote a book about it. Mary and I: A Permanent Link Through Ink (with Mary Jedlicka Humston) details decades of friendships maintained through weekly letters.
When Mary recently remarried after more than a decade of widowhood, she told her husband that the perfect birthday gift for her would be his words. “I told him, ‘The best gift you ever gave me is your words on paper. How you feel about me or what I mean to you.’ I want you to write. He thought it was kind of silly, but now he does,” she said.
It’s not easy for him, but he writes her notes on special occasions and Mary treasures them all and keeps them in a prominent place so she can read them back. Anything not allowed in texts or emails.
Bible as love letter
The Bible is often described as God’s love letter to us. The entire text of God-breathed Scripture is His way of reaching out to a sinful world with stories of sacrificial love for us. It is a book full of words that you can read over and over again whenever you learn about .Hebrews 4:12 NIV) allows each individual to be reached in a personal way.
Within the biblical text there are many individual characters. Letters written to advise, encourage, teach, and comfort. Laura Boyle of the Jane Austen Center.
If love letters have proven beneficial, if you take personal pleasure in reading someone’s handwritten words, and if God has used the written word on paper for generations to come. If you are communicating creation, you should consider how you can add to this ancient form of communication. back to our daily routine.
Who can I write to today?
Photo credit: ©SWN
