When was last time you received a letter from your friend or loved one? If it’s recent, you know exactly how it feels to get a letter, the longing to hear all about the days they had, what they are excited about. Letting you imagine with the power of words, leaving a bit of mystery around. But most of us today are missing out on this slow magic of writing a letter, receiving it.
And yes, we got our Instagram, Whatsapp- the world of instant texting, and video calling but you can’t replace the freedom of writing down all you want to let other person know without interruption and relief of not waiting for an immediate reply or reaction. It seems like an art to put up everything yet concisely in ways one can portray their world.
It’s not about leaving the modernity of instant messaging but also to embrace a bit of steady, slow form of communication through letters. A Chance to understand and be understood deeply.
“Letter writing is the only device combining solitude with good company.”
-Lord Byron
It’s also an exercise to experience a tint of history, try to imagine the world when it was only way of communicating if the person lived far in terms of distance but not far in terms of emotions( as hard as it seems today)
The logistics of sending letters might seem far-fetched (If you could do it, it might be altogether a different experience-the feel of paper, that can stay forever), but we can kind of have same experience- using few of pen-pal, letter writing apps on Playstore, One of it is Slowly.
Personal Touch: I was watching a series based on historical events in 1940s, the protagonist keeps writing letters to his best friend, letting him into his world and I wanted to experience this kind of bond you develop over letters. I tried searching pen pal related apps on playstore- and I found Slowly app. I made few friends there, asked few of my old friends to connect on Slowly and it’s truly amazing to let someone into your world, connect at another level just by exchanging letters overtime, the best thing about this app is that it delays sending the letter right away and simulates longing- it teaches you the patience to wait, luxury to take a moment before responding.
