Sunday, May 16, 2010

Ointment for an aching soul

Today quick emails are sent from one computer to another....and then a tweet here and there...a comment on a myspace or facebook wall....where oh where have the real letters gone. Instead of carefully thought out sentences, there are only shortened phrases. The beauty of writing has fallen by the wayside...and a rough, crude counterfeit remains in its place.

I have the love letters my husband wrote me before we were married. Flimsy paper creased by countless attempts to read the words penned across the page. He wrote not only of his love for me, but he also filled the pages with his hopes, dreams and aspirations. He is a practical man. There were no flowery words used; However, the love felt in each line outweighs any romantic jargon ever used.

Over the years I have written many letters. Some plain and simple, but others deep with wisdom. I often wish I could find those which were strong and solid but I think they were tossed out long ago with the day old newspapers.  If only there could be a revival of letter writing. I'm not talking of the quick texts sent here or there; but rather the leisurely written epistle. A well written letter can do more for an aching soul than ointment.

21 comments:

  1. Oh, I think you are so right about this. I love letters; in fact I love paper including special stationary and writing implements of all kinds.

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  2. On paper we left a part of ourselves behind.

    On digital walls we leave our behinds!

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  3. Andrea- yes, I too love the special stationary and various pens

    Anil P- I'm laughing so hard! :)

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  4. OMG, yes, yes, yes. I miss real letters, too. What will future historians have to analyze our times with? I still have love letters from my ex. An email message is simply not the same thing.

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  5. It's certainly an art that's in danger unfortunately. I think the tone of letters is inherently different and we lose something across emails and certainly Twitter, Facebook, etc. comments.

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  6. I agree. it is one of the reasons I still send holiday cards through the post, though it seems I receive fewer of them.

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  7. On reading this post, I realized I never got a love letter written on paper. :-( How beautiful is the feeling of reading & re-reading them again. I miss that very much.

    V is sleeping. Do you think if I wake(shake) him up and ask to write a love letter right now, he'll do so?
    Is it too much of asking ? Just wondering........

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  8. Alexandra- I so agree- much of my genealogical research is tied up in the letters I read through. Also- with emails, it is too easy to delete and they are gone forever!

    Anil- I find with emails, facebook, myspace and especially twitter- we tend to look for the shortcuts in expressing ourselves. We've lost the art of savoring words- allowing them to simmer until they bring out the best flavors.

    Kerry- same here, I keep wanting to do the 'snail mail' thing- although I am receiving less each year. I love the personal touch of seeing handwriting on a card- or a letter.

    Nisha- you make me laugh sooo hard!! I loved your comment!! I often ask my hubby why he doesn't write me love letters anymore and he says, "because it took so long to the write the ones I did before...now I can just tell you" hah!

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  9. Letters are the one thing I can never throw away. I still have the ones my husband wrote along with copies of his emails while we were dating and engaged. He still writes sometimes to surprise me by mail or just under my pillow.

    I love finding old letters. They offer a glimpse into someone's life or day in a way that even an old photograph can't offer.

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  10. Joan- how wonderful that your husband still writes you letters by mail- my dream come true! My husband will leave me a note on my FB wall- and it always brings a smile to my face. I so love old letters, I know what you mean about them offering more than even an old photograph.

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  11. Hi Anjuli,
    Thanks for the post. It is often itching that most of the people have became so practical that they get no time to write a complete sentence. They use different short cut techniques to write letters. I am against this type of practice. Bye Bye.

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  12. Instantdocs- I guess we all fall easy prey to the desire to communicate quickly. Even the fact that I belong to such social networks as FB and twitter and myspace reveal my inability to stay away from such communication :)

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  13. Nice post.I also agree with you. I love to write and read letters. But now a days we have not enough time to write long length letters with full of energy, we connect friends and other persons by sms or phone.That's why we are loosing our so called "letter writing culture".
    TK

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  14. Nike- yes it is very sad when we lose the art of letter writing- hopefully there will still be some who cling on to this wonderful art.

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  15. Anjuli,

    My wife has kept all my letters. She insisted me to write letters on paper. I typed and printed on blue paper and posted across. Somehow my daughter got hold of those letters and she could not believe it. Her first question, "Is it a bank statement or a bill?".

    Though I have been using emails since eternity, I don't use internet language and still tried to maintain proper langauge. I know some other people who are like me see. See post of a fellow blogger at

    http://hephzibahisrael.blogspot.com/2010/04/no-i-dont-lol.html

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  16. A- Your wife sounds like a woman after my heart :) It is good that you keep the proper letter writing style in your emails. Unfortunately I find myself taking 'short cuts'- I need to discipline myself to keep up the proper standard of good letter writing.

    I love your friend's post- totally agree with what was said in the post.

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  17. Do I make you laugh ?? Oh no !! I am serious type of a person. :)

    Oh these men. They don't understand a woman's feelings. We women like to cherish things... the hardcopy versions. :)

    I am good at writing long letters but V is not good at reading even the shorter versions. :(

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  18. Nisha- See there you go making me laugh again. I tell you these men can be quite hard headed when it comes to understanding how we women feel....I loved your last comment about you writing long letters but V not being good at reading even the shorter version-- I think he might be related to my hubby!! :)

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  19. lol
    he must be my hubby's soul brother then ! :P

    V doesn't keep my photo in his wallet or anywhere... says I am in his heart. How do I believe that? :(

    No, enough of making fun. They are actually gems of our lives.

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  20. Awww what a lovely post...esp ur husband's style of letter-writing:-)). As for ur letters I'm sure they are lovely and treasured by everybody who received them...I still have the 2 cards u sent me:-))

    p.s: Why didnt u give me a hint atleast....cant believe I havent been here soooo long;-(. My only excuse I've been super busy but even then I wd have been here like a shot if I had an inkling u were updating.

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  21. Reflections- I'll have to put one of those 'subscriber' thingies on here- someone else mentioned to me about wanting to know when new posts are posted. I know I have something which allows you to click on the comment section and be informed if anyone comments after you- I'll have to work on the updating part of it.

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