I've been so busy, I haven't had time to post or to read posts or comments or to comment. Whew. I sometimes feel guilty about how much time I'm spending on the blog sites. Then I got thinking...when I was a young girl, we all received pretty stationary every birthday etc. Why? To encourage us to become letter writers. Pen pals were encouraged [I had one in Germany and later in Poland.] Writing distant cousins, aunts, uncles etc. was fully expected. So...I figure that blogging is part of the modern world's way of writing. Therefore, whether we write on our own blogs or comment on another's, we are following the age old traditions of a literate society in writing to our friends, and in carying on a written conversation in this manner. And yes, e-mail counts, too.
The other night, Erica, who is again working at a movie theater, took me to see "The Lake House." It is the new Sandra Bullock movie. It uses the theme of Jane Austin's "Persuation" in the film. I felt so smart because I remembered the book really well [having read it for book club just a few monhs ago]. But it was not neccessary to know it as it is all explained in the film. This is a quite lovely story [OK, so you could call it a "chick flick" but it is really more of a character study and a correspondance story.] The main characters actually write to each other. If you get the chance, see the film. It is worth it.
I used to write to cousins of my grandparents when I was in my early 20's and they were in their 80's. In several cases I had to figure out they'd died when I heard no more from them, but it was worth it in each case. I got to know these elderly relatives as "real people" and didn't feel so divided by age as we wrote. Two were seasoned and retiring teachers as I was preparing to become a teacher. One was a retired priest and I was just getting immersed into my new religion. One was a newly wed [to husband #2] as I was in the dating towards marriage stage of life. We had so much more in common than not.
I discovered that my mother and grandmother had been correct: writing letters is an art, and one which despite the enjoyable immediacy of the telephone, must be kept alive.
Thank you for being my correspondants, keeping writing alive, and at times keeping my spirit alive!
4 comments:
i love real letters. like on paper and stuff. heh. it's an art lost on so many kids today, i feel for 'em. but getting something with handwriting... that's the best ever. i don't know why exactly. i guess because it just feels personal.
Amen. But I love e-mail letters, too--because they're so immediate, but not so much so that you can't reread what you've written and make changes. That included blogs and blog comments.
Emails are my preferred method of communication (waaaaaay above telephone) for my daily things: playgroups, church, etc.
But nothing beats a surprise (or not surprise) hand-written letter in the mailbox. We need more of those. Without that we don't get anything but bills and junk mail -- who wants to check the mail just for that?!?!?
btw, I keep a stationary collection. I know what you mean about the importance of making a nice letter.
My Mom tried to teach me the art of correspondance, but I was a slow learner--its only bow as I get older that I treasure it so much. Possibly becausde I can manage my time better--less immediate demands.
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