i love real mail.

maybe it’s old-fashioned – there are so many instantaneous ways to connect nowadays – but i don’t care.

there are so many things to love about real mail.

there is the tactile pleasure of pen on paper.

there is the singular script of the sender.

there is the non-immediacy of the arrival.

there is the surprise + delight of finding a hand-written envelope or postcard nestled amongst a stack of bills and junk mail and catalogs.

i would love to live in a world where our mailboxes are overflowing with beauty + love + connection.

maybe you would love to live in that world too.

maybe you really want to reach out to someone by way of a card or a letter or a postcard, but you just don’t know what to say.

for you, a list of ideas.

say what is true.

i love you.
i miss you.
i’m thinking about you.
i’m so glad you’re in my life.
i don’t know what to say, but i want you to know i care.
how are you? really? i want to know.

celebrate and appreciate them, and be specific.

i love you because ..
i appreciate the way you ..
i admire the way you ..
when i think of you, i think of someone who ..

tell them why you’re thinking about them.

remember when ..
i wish we could ..
i saw/heard/read/felt .. and it made me think of you.
you shared ___ and i can’t stop thinking about it and i wish we could sit down over coffee and talk about it and everything.
i saw your pictures of ___ and it made me smile/miss you/wish you were here.

share something you think they’d like.

a quote.
a song lyric.
a poem.
an article.
a comic strip.

tell them a tiny story about your day/life so they can share in it.

there is a pair of mourning doves on my patio. they visit every day. i named them harry & sally.

a nearby cafe has a sisu latte. it contains cardamon + cinnamon bun. i didn’t know there was cinnamon bun syrup. maybe it is an actual cinnamon bun? clearly i need to ask. when i think of sisu (it’s finnish), i think of grit, so i am glad to know there is sweetness in it too.

my nephew lars says happy now. he says happyhappyhappy at random intervals and it is just so sweet.

i was looking for a quick read when i found dr. laura’s book, the proper care & feeding of husbands, on the bookshelf. i know it seems crazy, but i read it and it reminded me of mama gena. is that crazy? maybe you shouldn’t answer that. maybe you should forget i told you this.

when in doubt, remember: honest + simple + straight from the heart.

you really can’t go wrong with that.

and as (one of my favorite imaginary mentors) augusten burroughs would say, “better the wrong words at the right time than the right words at the wrong time.”

here’s to reaching out.

with love.

in all ways.