February 20

• My letters, it seems, have been doing good work as they head out into the world.  Here are a few responses I've gotten in the past few days.

  
  

  Wouldn't it be grand if a few of my recipients are, in fact,  inspired to pick up a pen and pass on the love?  

  
  

  Posted on Facebook:

  
  

  Random Acts of Kindness- Love letters. Pass it on.

  Letter writing has not stayed with the times. We, email, facebook, text, but an old fashioned letter? I received one today from my niece, Amanda Cobes, that made me cry with tears of happiness. Thank you my dear, for taking on this "old-fashioned' communication. It was an art I once had and have placed on the sidelines. Time to revive it. Pass it on- make a person feel wonderful.

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  And, an email response to another letter:

  
  

   Amanda,

  
  

  What a lovely, wonderful note to receive on Valentines Day.  It means a lot to me.  I will keep that note for the rest of my life.

  
  

  Thank you,

  
  

  John

  
  

  
  

  
  

  Makes staying up late to script a little note seem pretty darn worthwhile, eh?  

  
  

  I am glad I am doing this. 

  
  

  This week, letters have gone out to two strangers, another high school teacher, and a friend from my church youth group. 

  
  

  The month is flying by and there are so many letters waiting to be written... 

  May have to keep this one going throughout the year...

  
  

  
  

  
  

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February 15

While I have not been keeping up with the blog particularly well, I am pleased to say that I have been keeping up with the letters!  This week letters have been penned to:  an old friend, a stranger, a teacher, a family member, and a dog breeder.   I have to credit Nat with the idea for that last one.  It's not that I feel any particular love for the dog breeder.  It's the dog I love.  And, I suppose, I could write a love letter to Corydon.  But a big part of the joy of this month's challenge is in imagining the response of each person as they read their letter.  Cor, for all her perfection, cannot read.  But Fran, her breeder, can, and I hope she will enjoy a random letter waxing rhapsodic over one of her dogs. 

You may wonder how I go about choosing my letter recipients.  I'll tell you, there is no method to it.  I do have a small list of people who I definitely want to get to before month's end-- but that list is full of the major players in my life and it's not every night that I am up for a letter of the significance they deserve.  Instead, I am just going with what is on my heart at the moment.  Sometimes what is on my heart, is exhaustion, the need for a short and sweet missive to let me check "letter writing" off my list for the day.  Sometimes the events of the day will bring a person to mind, like a wonderful choir rehearsal the other day that inspired me to write to my high school choral director.   Frequently, the people I am pulled to write to, are those who are not in my life on a daily basis right now.  The people I miss.  The people who continue to affect me, even at a distance. 

There are so many people in this world to love.  And so many ways to feel that love. 

I am enjoying this month.

February 4, 5, 6, 7, 8...

Days fly!  But the letters are flying also.  Some have reached their intended audience.  Some are waiting for updated addresses (in this age of Facebook it is easy to forget that mailing addresses exist...).  Some have been sent out anonymously to find their way in the world and its kind of lovely that I'll never know where they  went.

I think love letters to strangers, left in public places, might be my favorite.

Well, those and the love letters that get me a wonderful hug in return.

Letter tally since last I posted:  One letter to an old friend (that's the one waiting on an address); one to a family member; one to a soldier stationed abroad, one to the wife of a soldier; waiting at home; another to an unknown stranger.

I had great plans to take a photo of each of my letters, to post here on the blog. I am struck by how very reticent I am to do that, now that the letters are being written.  Turns out, its a private thing to me, this letter writing. Even those letters that are going to strangers, that contain nothing the least bit personal-- they're private.  Between me and the person who finds them...

I've been reticent, too, to write letters to people I know.  Its not that I'm short on people I love, nor  on the sentiment to give to them. But when I set pen  to paper, its a lot of pressure, trying to find the perfect balance, the best way to celebrate and endorse that wonderful person without crossing over into platitudes and mushiness.

Never fear, I have a list!  I'll find a way to balance out these more challenging letters with the quick notes to strangers.  Those practically write themselves-- no need to hold back on the platitudes when  I don't even know who I'm writing to...

February 1, 2, and 3

Hello, world!  Sorry for going dark on you there.  Vegetable consumption, as it turns out, does not make for inspiring blogging.  It does make for decent health (one slight sniffle for the month of January, not bad) and some slight weight loss (though a stressful last week at work undid some of those strides) and a lot of increased awareness of what, and how, I eat.  What will I take forward?  A salad at every dinner.  Raw veggie snacks for the afternoon.  Two veggie sides whenever possible.  A desire to do more to improve my diet, when I have the will power, and lack of stress, needed to avoid the things I should NOT be eating, more thoroughly.  Never did get to the introduction of copious quantities of leafy greens.  Perhaps in a few months we'll focus on eating again...

But for this month:  It's February and the world is abuzz with LOVE.  I personally have taken quite a liking to Valentines's Day over the past couple decades.  This is only surprising if you happen to remember the 14 year old who painted her nails black on Valentine's Day, in protest against the unfairness of a world focused on romance.

What that young lady didn't quite understand is that Valentine's Day can be about so much MORE than romance.  I suppose its easy for me to say, having landed myself a man and all, but the romantic love piece is almost a side note.  To me, these days, it's all about letting out the love you feel, all the time, towards ALL the people in your life.   It's about taking the time to let them know how much you care about them, to express your joy in them through hearts and doilies and copious quantities of glitter.

Really, its all about making Valentines.  Heart shaped love letters to the world.  An embrace with words.  A smile wrapped up in an envelope.  Taking the time to make the love I feel, tangible.

So for this month, I am writing love letters. They won't all be Valentines (though some of them will) but they will send out embraces and care  and I hope, joy into the world.

I will write 28 letters in 28 days.  Handwritten, with purpose and care, and mailed or handed by the end of the month.

Some of them will be to people in my life right now.  Some may be to people who shaped my life in the past.  Some of them will be to strangers whose story I know.  Some will be to strangers I will never know.   This writing to strangers bit-- You may remember I gave it a trial run in December when I came across this website with the mission statement of "The world needs more love letters."

Indeed it does.  I think I will enjoy adding to the count.

Anyone care to join me?  We can never say "I love you" too often.  Who do you need to tell, today?


Off to a slow start with blogging but here are my first 3 letters, ready to go out tomorrow.  Two to strangers, one to family....

And here is my letter writing bin.  I went through all my old stationary (some of which I used for letter writing back when I was that angsty 14 year old...) and combined it here.  Excited to see how much I can go through this month!