I might be the United States Postal Service's Number 1 Fan but at times it tests my devotion.
I once read that a postage stamp is the smallest contract one can enter into. What a perfect way to express how I feel about my investment in stamps!
I have a pen pal in Texas. Susan and I have yet to meet but her letters are encouraging, creative, and always a gift waiting in my PO Box. Recently, I was inspired to take the time to compose a letter I was really proud of. Handwritten, clever, and full of ephemera gathered here and there. It was very valuable to me. Needless-to-say, I was concerned when, after 17 days, she had not yet received it. On Day 18, she wrote to say USPS came through. It took almost three weeks to travel 1,655 miles!
That said, SNAIL MAIL is still my favorite way to communicate. And I'm not the only one who feels this way. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe regarded letters as significant memorials. John Donne believed that letters allow absent friends to connect deeply, stating, "More than kisses, letters mingle souls; for, thus friends absent speak." Emily Dickinson viewed letters as a form of immortality, representing "the mind alone without the corporeal friend." Samuel Johnson described a man's letters as a "mirror of his breast," where his "soul lies naked". Even actor Steve Carell has said, "there's something visceral about opening a letter—I see her on the page. I see her in her handwriting."
posted under |
0 comments:
Post a Comment