I plan to participate in this year’s A Month of Letters challenge, in which I will send at least one letter every day in February that the post runs.

Why?

In no particular order, I give you:

My Top Seven Reasons for Participating in A Month of Letters

1. It will help me keep resolution #6 to “nurture personal connections.”

2. Daily writing practice is daily writing practice.

3. Perhaps I will finally get those Christmas thank-you notes sent out.

4. I love to use pretty notecards and stationery and interesting stamps.

5. If you look at anthologies of writers or historical personages, what do you see? Their collected writings. Letters, often. How will future anthologies look if all anyone ever writes is social media posts? Barring me ever being famous enough for inclusion in an anthology, paper correspondence may one day be of interest to historians trying to piece together daily life from this era. As a former history museum director, I think about this. So much of the writing today is ephemeral and will be lost to history. (Speaking of which, I love Letters of Note. I found a letter in the museum archive that I have been wanting to submit.)

6. I am a paper gal. Book trumps e-reader. Letter trumps email. I like to feel the physical item in my hand. Also, old books smell better than old computers.

7. I love getting mail. I transfer my desires onto others and assume others love to get mail as well. I believe I’m creating little eddies of happiness in the universe.

I already have several people in mind to send letters to, but I’d be happy to strike up a written correspondence with a new kindred spirit. Send me an email with your mailing address to kt AT ktbradshaw DOT com.