When was the last time you wrote or received a letter?
I recently found some correspondence from my uni days many years back. The effort that had gone into writing those letters was immense. There were doodles and personalised notes included and the format was very fluid. I don't think people take that much time any more (maybe the pace of life has moved on and we don’t have as much free time as we used to?) Letter writing can be beneficial, as can writing of any kind. The act of putting pen to paper can be very positive.
A great reason to write more often is to keep your mind sharp, thereby improving focus and concentration. Writing by hand can help with memory retention, as it engages different parts of the brain than when you type on a keyboard.
Some might say the physical act of writing by hand allows for a more personal and tactile experience, as the writer can feel the movement of the pen and watch the ink flowing onto the paper. This can aid the creative process as you can easily draw, doodle, or make annotations in the margins as you write.
Improving your handwriting is another great reason to write more often. Even short notes or shopping lists can help. In days gone by I have encouraged the children to write our shopping list to help practice their early cursive writing. I didn’t know it at the time but I was helping them to develop their fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination.
Writing can be a calming activity that helps to promote relaxation, especially if done mindfully. Switching off from on-screen distractions can create a relaxing environment in which to write. The repetitive motion of writing can be soothing and meditative, providing a calming and therapeutic outlet for processing emotions and thoughts.
Journalling, for instance, is a popular practice that has been shown to have numerous mental health benefits, such as reducing stress, improving mood, and increasing self-awareness. Other avenues of writing you could try include starting a blog or keeping a diary. And this can be done anywhere, anytime, without the need for electricity or an internet connection. All you need is pen and paper.
With a few strokes of that pen, you have the power to encourage and inspire. Receiving a letter can help older members of your family feel loved and for the younger ones it's a screen-free activity they might enjoy. Thank-you letters are mandatory in our house after birthdays. This helps to show appreciation of the gift and writing it down helps us to recollect who the gift was from much later on. Communication of all kind is encouraged, so an email or digital message (while maybe not as personal) can mean a lot to friends and family too.
These blogs are very cathartic but I type them, I don’t physically write them down. I think I'll start writing more though. Something easy… like a postcard when I’m next away.
In the meantime, these are ill-fated Lucy Westenra and Mina Murray's letters to each other from Dracula The Graphic Novel.
Enjoy…