I love racing to the mailbox every day. Like the cheesy host of Blues Clues, I want to shout “Mail Time!” I love the idea of getting something in the mail. Unexpected, handwritten content from a friend.
But it’s been years.
We all gave up on handwritten letters and turned to less-personal email. Now I eagerly await email but am met with impersonal newsletters and advertisements just like my physical mailbox. Then we gave up on email and switched to depend on 140 characters of SMS text messages, twitter, and the slighly-longer Facebook status updates.
Do I know more of you now with status updates than I would have through written correspondence? Doubtful. Now I may know more about where you are and what you ate for dinner – but that’s not who you are.
In some respects, I’m among the most tech-savvy of my friends. I’m a software engineer. We own a robot vacuum (or two). We have more computers than people in our house. In other ways I’m a luddite. I’ve got a reel lawn-mower with rotating blades and no motor. A rotary phone that I’ve re-wired is our main house phone. We have no microwave.
Technology has transformed the world, saved lives, enhanced business, and extended relationships. Damage in all of these areas has been done as well. Lives have been ended, businesses have been shut down, and relationships shallowed.
Technology is best viewed with a healthy skepticism.
And that’s the reason behind my 4th goal for this year. I am going to write handwritten letters to friends and family – specifically those I’ve lost touch with.
Current Progress: 0%
- Attainable: This is 2 or 3 letters each month. That should be attainable.
- Meaningful: Improves writing skills and relationships.
- Difficult: The time commitment, writing skills, and learning this ancient art of letter-writing will all add difficulty.
- Quantifiable: I’m shooting for 30, but it depends on how many names and addresses I can come up with.
