The art of letter writing
Yearning to slow down, be more mindful and strengthen your relationships at the same time?
Dust off that pen licence and start writing. Taking the time to craft a letter to one person is the opposite of what we do when we post our thoughts to all of our social media connections. The correspondence becomes personalised and deepens the connection between two people rather than broadcasting to the masses.
Ironically, social media can take some credit for helping stage the comeback of letter writing. “The #snailmail hashtag has over 1.5 million posts on Instagram,” says Melbourne-based graphic designer and illustrator Michelle Mackintosh, the author of Snail Mail and Care Packages. She’s a self-confessed “stationery nerd” and avid letter writer.
“In our grandparents’ era, letter writing was as important as all our social media platforms put together,” she says. “Right now, a new generation of people who love making things by hand are drawn to letter writing. Many older people still treasure a written letter, so the art of letter writing is really multigenerational.
“Awaiting a letter in the past could have been a matter of life
