The Lost Art of Letter Writing

I am in the process of reading The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society- a wonderful book by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. My review for this book is forthcoming as I haven't finished it yet but it has already inspired me so much I had to post a blog on the novel's most unique key aspect- it is written entirely in the form of letters (I will not go into the contents of these letter now- that will be in my review). But these letters- so cleverly and warmly written had me putting my book down and wanting to write a letter of my own.

It has been ages since I've written a letter. You know, a proper letter- not a card- but a simple letter with no agenda other than to say hello to the recipient and to let them know what is going on in my life. So I brought out my stationery- a heavyweight lavender colored paper from Papyrus- and began to write. It felt good to write this letter. I've been blogging, facebooking and tweeting so much that I almost forgot what it was like to allow my hand float across paper- to allow my thoughts to be transcribed by a pen. I did notice (with dismay) that my handwriting has taken a significant beating. In my college days I had beautiful handwriting and was often complimented on it. Now it is has turned from a beautiful flowing script to a rather pained looking form of chicken scratch. Oh dear- this is something I need to work on!

Handwriting aside, I completed my old fashioned letter which is to be sent to a relative of mine in England. It is sitting next to my lap top right now as I speedily type this at 69 wpm- staring at me and enjoying the simplicity and slowness of its nature...

Image courtesy of: leonofnewyork.com