Sunday Smiles

(Day 13 of #100happydays)

Happy Sunday!  I hope everyone's weekend is going well!  For today's Sunday Smiles I want to talk about making and sending mail.  It's been on my mind, as I made a card yesterday, and the other night I watched a movie (on Amazon) that I can't get out of my head...

Have you seen the stop motion animation movie Mary and Max?  (Philip Seymour Hoffman and Toni Collette are the voices.)  I wouldn't recommend it for children, but it's funny, cute, serious, sometimes a little dark, but very touching.  I really liked it.  Anyways, a big part of the movie is Mary and Max sending letters back and forth.  It reminded me of a couple of years ago when I lived in California and was sending and receiving a lot of mail.  I would anxiously await the next card or letter to arrive, and it would make my day when it did!  Those cards and letters were so important to me.  In fact, I still have them all!

I love emails too, but they lack a certain personal touch.  Sure, by reading an email you can "see" the sender in the way that they write and express themselves with words, but you can't see what paper they picked out to write on or what color pen they picked to write with, and most importantly, you don't get to see their handwriting.  I love that handwriting is such an extension of a person's personality.  It becomes so recognizable.  When you are missing someone, seeing their handwriting is such a joy.

There's also a certain amount of freedom in letter writing that I think allows one to be a little more honest.  At least I find this so, and I find it easier to say things in general.  I take comfort in the written word.  I feel like I can really say what I mean when I write.  Have you heard the expression "diarrhea of the mouth" when referring to someone who's talking a lot?  Well, I have the opposite problem, "constipation of the mouth" if you will...  When talking to someone, I often can't get out what I want to say, but sit me down with pen and paper and I'll write a ten page paper on what I meant to say!  Speaking of which, I better start to wrap things up here before I get carried away!

So, apparently it's National Card and Letter Writing Month, which means we should all get writing!  What a great way to put a smile on someone else's face!  Actually, there could also be merit in writing letters to someone without the intention of sending them.  They could be written to someone who you can't send letters to, don't want to send letters to, would like to send letters to, or they could be to your (past, present or future) self.  I think it could be a great journaling project with some therapeutic value.  Depending on how fancy you want to get, it could be a great art project too!

Does sending or receiving cards and letters make you smile too?