Snail mail

In a world full of Zoom calls, WhatsApp group chats and Facebook messages, it can be hard to remember the excitement of receiving correspondence from someone else. Technology has made us more connected which can be great, but sometimes can be too much. There is an inability to turn off, and you never really have to chat with your friends as you know what they have been up to just by scrolling their Instagram feed. But here’s the thing, do you actually know much about your friends if you only watch their life through a curated lens? In a world of information overload, a letter is the purest rarity there is.

Keeping in touch with friends who live abroad via a letter is a priceless pastime. The moment when a handwritten letter arrives at your door is a feeling that any technology app is yet to replicate. You can write loads in a letter or just a little, you can keep it plain or make it aesthetic. You can even recycle a letter or a card. My parents give each other the same anniversary card every year and sign their name again each year so this card becomes a historical relic in time. My dad also does this with a friend from university with a Christmas card and they have been doing it for over 30 years. On that folded up printed piece of paper is ‘Charlie’, ‘Louise and Charlie’, ‘Louise, Charlie and Bump’, ‘Louise, Charlie and Kirsty’, ‘Louise, Charlie, Kirsty and Bump’, ‘Louise, Charlie, Kirsty and Rory’: a true history of our little family. They have a card each and they just go back and forth every year because the thing with letters and cards is that if you look after them they survive and become treasures.

Any card with my late great-aunt’s handwriting makes me feel close to her again, and letters serve not just as a history of your life, but of your friendship and remind you how loved you are. To write a letter takes time and energy, and you can even make a new friend through writing letters. That is why to me, snail mail will always be the ultimate form of communication.

By Kirsty Taylor