Is Snail Mail really that important?
What's the big deal about snail mail anyway?
I'm so glad you asked! I'm going to tell you...welcome to my TED talk.
Snail mail is about slowing down. It's about connecting. It's about creating memories, sharing time and thoughts, it's about being human.
Honestly, I am really tired of screens and tech and how I cannot keep up with the constant changing pace. It makes me tired. It also makes me sad.
As a teacher, I see how children can't slow down, they need everything instantly and seem to lack grit when it comes to difficult tasks. How is snail mail supposed to solve that?
Writing, the physical act of putting pen to paper is completely different than typing (as I punch away at my computer!)...I cannot give you the science behind it all but I do know our brain works differently when we scribe with a pen or pencil. It causes us to move at a different pace, to choose our own words (not AI), to convey our own thoughts and to rewrite, to edit, to adjust. All of these things take time and energy and often are not easy. They do however create connections, spur learning and creativity and make us completely human.
When we sit down to physically write a letter, we are choosing to share our time and our emotions with another human. We select the card or the paper to write on. We find our favorite writing utensil and move at a pace that makes us use our best handwriting... because handwriting is special. It is an extension of ourselves, it is identifiable and unique. When we share our own writing in a deliberate and neat manner, we are telling the other person we care, we love them and we are using our time thinking of them. We want them to know that they are important, what we are feeling and that years down the road when they pull out that old letter, they will still have a piece of our own heart.
There is so much more to snail mail but for now, I will leave it at that. In a future blog I will talk about decorating snail mail, finding old letters, how snail mail is vastly different than a text or email and how choosing postage is fun!
What do you love most about snail mail?
All my best,
Sarah
PS - I'd love for you to join the Block21Prints Snail Mail Club! It's full of joy and hugs and all things that make snail mail awesome!