I wrote this over a year ago.... (7/19/09).... I like it so, so I'm bringing it back to the future.
I've got a lot on my mind at the moment. Email is a really wonderful thing. My Dad is always excited about how quickly and often he can keep in touch with people all over the world. It's truly a phenomenal concept, but we're moving into the age where letters are falling quickly into extinction. The lost art of writing to someone, (and of course, writing something nice!) The true beauty of it all is being able to hold a letter in your hands and read it whenever you want. We're glued to the screen, hands stuck on the keyboard (just look at me!!!) and a new age is pushing something valuable into a fading memory.
Don't let this happen.
Write to someone. It doesn't have to be me. It should be someone you truly care about! (Ha) - or better still, someone who needs to know that you care for them.
I don't know if anyone has been placed on your heart, but the GOODness of GOD wants us to continue to show love to someone. Maybe that means you need to pick up the phone, but if you've got some pen and paper, make it happen.
I charge you! Do it and put a little bit of yourself into. Don't wait till Christmas or Father's day or Mother's Day to do something nice for someone. Don't wait until their birthday. Don't wait until their calling you asking for help or advice. Don't wait.
Go get 'em now.
Godspeed those stamps!
................................................ Okay, so that was then, and this is now. I go back and forth between whether or not our expanding technology is dehumanizing daily users of that technology. Have you ever questioned whether or not technology is destroying the essence of our humanity? Whether or not you've debated a different stem of this question, the point still remains that technology can no longer be ignored. Many of us think it enhances our interactions, but it has the power to create more walls and minimize our life "circles" (thank you Google Plus).
In all honesty, I don't actually think technology as a whole is bad. However, if it eliminates our personal, face-to-face interactions with people, we're in danger of losing something vital to our natural identity. To be a communal being, no matter how introverted or extroverted we may be, means recognizing and embracing that community. There's no immediate ease in this, but it begins with having some sense of the world around you with regards to other people, not other things. I know there is more to life than smartphones and such.
So why even bother with letter-writing? Isn't this just another way of diminishing "face time"? The vast difference between playing chess on your computer and writing a letter to someone may not be radically polarized. Why do we play video games? Why are we inseparable from our smart phones and gizmo gadgets? Could it be for the same reason that people enjoy books? And playing sports? Maybe I'm taking this too far, but my point is, another part of our humanity is to enjoy the physical world around us. We're all different, so we all manage to do it in different ways. The difference between playing a multi-player video game, sending an email, and writing a letter is time, care, and purpose. The world really is a better place when you take time out to think about someone else and show it in a tangible way. If people got letters in the mail every day, the world would surely be a different place, but we don't! The personal touch of letting someone know you thought about them outside of their birthday or whatever the event may be, is one that people never forget.
To find that, is to find someone's humanity and make life worth living a thousand times over.
