The lost art of letter writing
January 22, 2008
This lovely Ted Talk from Lakshmi Pratury is a love letter to the lost art of letter writing. She invites us to think about both/and – email and text messages as well as hand written personal notes both of which should be able to sit side by side. It’s a timely thought for me. I’ve noticed that my handwriting is declining in clarity the older I get – while I can rectify my blurry vision with stronger lenses, the only way I can reclaim my penmanship is to take a pen in hand and practice more often. I tend to hand write envelopes even if the contents are business related and the only real notes I’ve written in the last year are either Birthday/Christmas cards or summaries of meetings I’m involved in that need to be decoded afterwards.. so a thought for the new year will be to create more opportunities for that personal touch. When so much of what I read is about creating better and more personal relationships it seems to me that a handwritten note might just be the most creative technology we have at our fingertips to make that happen.
Here, here!! I was raised to write letters and thank you notes and the habit perpetuates. Partially because I love the written word and paper (and good ink…). Partially because the positive feedback and feelings I get are so real and rewarding. What’s better than that?!
Hi Ginger, well done..I’m finding I have to make the effort to find opportunities to hand write these days and apart from cards and envelopes I’m finding it challenging!