Our Mail Bag blog posts feature letters and postcards that members send to us at LetterMo to share with the community. You can submit content to the Mail Bag by following the instructions at Mail-In Blog Submissions.
Our most recent blog submission comes to us from Fly in the United States, who writes in to share a letter reflecting on the experience of writing letters! We hope that you enjoy reading it as much as we did here at LetterMo!
Hello, Everyone!
There is something magical about writing a letter, especially to a new pen pal. Picking out the stationary so its just so, gathering pens and embellishments. Looking through stamps…Its the first impression to a stranger that may otherwise have nothing in common with you. Hoping they’ve said enough in their bio that you can make a connection.
Then you (I) sit down and write. And nothing matters anymore. The world drops away and all that matters is the words. I’ll admit, I always worry about what I say. Can they read my handwriting? Did I ramble too long or misspell something? How many pages of a monster will my letter become when I finally decide I’ve run out of space? Because I can say “I love hiking” just as easily as I tell you “I’m planning to hike all the trails at Radnor Lake” before (badly) drawing you a map and telling you about each one in detail. (Seven trails! A Bird Sanctuary! Otters and Deer and…)
Sometimes in my efforts to get a letter out in a hurry I end up on plain notebook paper and hope I won’t disappoint someone hoping for embossed note cards and flowy fountain pens.
But eventually I finish and stuff the letter into an almost-too-small envelope (8 pages?! Yikes!) and tape it up with my washi tape. Stamp it. Wish it safe travels. And wait for that little glimmer or excitement when I open my mailbox and find a letter just for me. I get so excited! Sometimes I read them as I reply and share the details with my cats, who of course couldn’t care less. (My youngest cat actually hates it when I write a letter because I won’t let him sit on everything and put claw holes in the paper.)
LetterMo 2024 is drawing to a close already. I had a lot of goals for the month. Keep up with Postcrossing, my Dad’s birthday card, everyone in my friends list, replies to everything I’ve received. A rock. Finally sending in a secret to Post Secret. As of right now I am doing okay. Postcrossing is almost caught up, I’ve gone through 2/3 of my LetterMo friends list, sent multiple birthday cards… Post Secret is still waiting but that’s okay. My heart just isn’t ready to share yet!
I hope that LetterMo found all of you well and that your mailboxes have overflowed! To Pen Friends!
~Fly