Just one month ago, I started this project, Lovely Handwritten Notes. And although it is still small, it sure has come a long way. Letters have been sent. Letters have been received. A P.O. Box has been opened. Forty-four people now follow the project on Facebook. Twenty-three on Twitter. Another nineteen follow the project on Tumblr.
April was National Card and Letter Writing Month, and in its honor, I sent a different person a letter for every day of the month. Some days, I cheated and sent multiple letters out. In total, I sent out 45 lovely handwritten notes during the month of April. They traveled to California, Oregon, North Carolina, Washington D.C., Texas, Minnesota, New York, Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey, New Mexico, Colorado, Massachusetts, Georgia, Utah, Idaho, Portugal, Germany, New Zealand, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the Czech Republic.
During this time, I also received many letters to which I responded. I received 12 letters that traveled from California, Germany, Zambia, Minnesota, Oregon, North Carolina, New Jersey, Texas, and Virginia.
It has been a wonderful experience so far. I’ve become connected to fellow lovers of the handwritten craft — and they’re all such unique, creative, and beautiful people. In thirty short days, this project has brought me boundless joy. It has taught me about how letters preserve history, how they can help a person heal after experiencing a loss, and how they can open your mind to a new world of creativity.
Thank you to everyone who made this first month a success. As I predicted, my letter-a-day writing isn’t going to stop just because April is over. I still have many addresses left in my address book — so keep checking your mailbox. :)
Also, remember that tomorrow, a new Question of the Week will be posted for you to mail in your response. That means that if you haven’t already, you should send in a response to last week’s!
“Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh (A Letter from Camp),” by Allan Sherman, 1963
Happy postal music Sunday. Did anyone ever send a letter from camp?
Messenger of sympathy and love
Servant of parted friends
Consoler of the lonely
Bond of the scattered family
Enlarger of the common life
These days are the greatest. The ones with moments that are nothing, but simple.
Now, that’s what I call an envelope. That beautiful roughened edge, now forever holding the history of the letter’s final destination.
And it’s a good one, that postal love.
Thanks, Alena. It was lovely.
Lovely Handwritten Notes is announcing the official launch of its own P.O. Box! Now, you can mail lovely notes to the project, as well as waiting patiently by your own mailbox.
Please send your lovely notes to:
Lovely Handwritten Notes
P.O. Box 2674
Washington, D.C. 20013
United States of America
This little key opens one of the happiest little post office boxes on earth!
As part of this launch, I’d like to help you to get writing, as sometimes the hardest part is just doing it. Therefore, every Wednesday, you can visit the project’s site for the Question of the Week. I will present some sort of question that you can respond to in a handwritten note and mail in to the project’s P.O. Box. You can respond to this question with as many or as few words as you’d like. Your response can be written in a card, on a postcard, on white lined paper, on colorful construction paper, or any other mailable medium you can think of! I look forward to connecting with you all.
Unless you state that you’d like your response to remain private, I would LOVE to share it on the project’s site. However, I will never share your personal information beyond a first name and country without specific permission.
This is just one of the many activities I’d like to start through this project, so stay tuned!
As for our kickoff QUESTION OF THE WEEK:
Why are you interested in this project? What is it that you like (or don’t like) about letter writing?
Please send your response to the address above — I’m so excited to read and share them! Happy Wednesday!
Since starting this project, my Mondays have received a whole bucketful more of cheer. This Monday, I’m seeing in triples.
This lovely tulip has an origin of Oregon, and an ability to remind me of the year Rho and I took that university by storm!
This one clearly came from a pal vacationing in both of our home states. I could tell the layout was conceived by a southern Californian since the Golden Gate is where the Redwoods should be! :/ My friend hinted at the mild love affair she got for southern California, just as I did when I last visited. This is a big thing for us northerners to admit.
Grandma, of course. I told you she was fast.
“Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I’m Yours” by Stevie Wonder, 1970
We’ve all made it through the week and now we can relax on postal music Sunday. I love how Stevie Wonder uses the metaphor of delivering a letter to show his permanence and devotion to the lucky recipient of his song.
Do you have a song that you think would be good for postal music Sunday? What about it do you like?
yay for hand written postcards
yay for old souls
yay for small world smiles
yay for aptly timed postal truths
yay for lovelyhandwrittennotes
Korrin, you brightened my whole day :)
one is coming your way soon
I logged in today to make a post about writing during stormy weather, but then I saw this — my postcard to an old soul in New Jersey posted with this lovely caption! It really lightened my heart. Alena and I held the same internship position in Atlanta, but during different summers. So, we’ve never actually met (yet), but she feels like a total pal regardless. In her words, “Yay” for a postcard arriving to a pal today!
Thanks for sharing, Alena.
