There With You

By Megan
 
Anyone who has lived away from home- outside of their culture and apart from the people, language, food and places they find familiar- can attest to the sacredness of letters.  They are a golden beam of connective energy that leads straight to that place or person to whom you attach home.

Mail is usually filled with bills and junk that few look forward to opening, but a letter glows out of the mail box screaming- OPEN ME!  THERE IS LOVE IN HERE!  I like to take my letter and carry it with me for a bit before I open it, creating a sort of suspense while thinking about the person that sent it.

Bike in Belgium

Why are letters so meaningful?  I mean, a lot of the time it is easier to pick up the phone or send an email, or facebook stalk them.  Or maybe you'll just head over to Go Girl and see what she has to say  about life this week?  Who has the time to buy stamps, put down thoughts on paper, and figure out where to send the card?

Next time you think about the effort it takes to write a letter, consider this:  A letter is the closest you can get to someone far away- it's kind of like a mini-vacation for you and the reader.  The paper is something that both will touch, the curve of the handwriting takes time for the eyes to appreciate and, often, interpret the words.

Roland Barthes, a french man famous for his musings on love, said that one writes letters not because what they compensate for absence or because the writer wants to ensure love from another; but because a letter is 'there where you are not'. Your words may say nothing, but it is the connectivity between writer and reader that makes every letter precious.

Take the post secret phenomenon:  People write their 'secrets' on postcards and ship them away to be viewed by the world online and in books.  There is something so exhilarating in putting anonymous thoughts into the mail and imagining its journey and who might see it.  You are immediately connected with readers and fellow sympathizers by just sending in a secret.

I am continually amazed by the letters I get from friends in other states and countries- just think of the hands that passed it along the way to my dear friends hands and the enjoyment/support/love it is always guaranteed to the writer and reader.

What it may feel like waiting for a letter

Some letters carry a bit more meaning than others:  Love letters, letters of encouragement, and letters from people whom you haven't seen in a long while sparkle with an unbelievable warmth and strength.  I have a collection of my all time favorite letters.  They either said something beautifully, came at an apt time, or just make me smile/cry/laugh every time I re-read them.  But I still remember that Valentine from a certain someone in second grade, which their mom probably purchased for them at the grocery store.  It wasn't fancy or even unique, except that it came from him.  He put the Power Ranger sticker on there by himself.

Let me know if you would like a letter or if you want to send one my way.  I promise to write back!  And I am so excited to hear from you and be there where you are.