When I picked up the mail last week, I was pleasantly surprised to find a brief note from my friend Linda hand-written on beautiful stationary.
Although Linda and I now live several states apart, we stay in touch by cell phone and email---usually several times a day. But there was something special about her note.
I immediately realized that Linda, who is probably as busy as me and you, stopped what she was doing and took the time to write a couple of paragraphs. It made me smile inside and out. Yes, email is quicker but her taking the time to slow down to tell me how much my friendship meant to her was more precious.
I reached out to Sandra Lamb, author of Personal Notes: How to Write from the Heart for Any Occasion to pick her brain about the topic:
Question: Is there still a place for personal notes between female friends in a world laden with email, social media sites, and cell phones? Have such notes become dinosaurs or ironically, perhaps, has technology made them all the more special?
Answer: Email is great, and always welcome, and so are the communications that
occur on social media sites. And it's always good to have a heart-to-heart
chat on the phone. All three offer the possibilities of an immediate and
intimate connection. But, yes, there's still something very special about
going to the mailbox and seeing an envelope that contains a personal message,
complete with a handwritten address--your name and your address. It says more
clearly than these other methods of communications that the writer has committed
time, care, thought and deliberate action to make a personal connection.
Question: In your experience, is writing personal notes an art form that can be polished?
Answer: Yes, writing personal notes is an art form that can
be polished and perfected until it sparkles like gold. There is something
quite wonderful in the very act of writing by hand that allows us to go into
the very deepest and truest parts of ourselves. What a wonderful way to
create strong and lasting bonds of connection.
Question: Since Mother’s Day is approaching, what are your thoughts about personal notes between mothers and daughters?
Answer: The habit of writing personal notes to each other can create a rich, true, and cherished legacy for mothers and daughters. These heartfelt connections can be preserved and shared over generations. It's something that may well be missing in our society so it's well worth the effort of reinstating.
If you aren't sure what to write, when to write, or how to say it to a friend, Lamb's book will inspire you to find just the right words to express what's in your heart.
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