Other Letter Writing Blogs

When I started The Letter Writing Revolution, I had not thought about the fact that there were others in this vast world who perhaps, like me, really loved letter writing and who also had a desire to see it make a comeback or at least see it increase in frequency. It wasn't that I thought I was the only person out of the 6,873,700,000 or so inhabitants of planet earth that had the idea of revitalizing this lost art, I simply hadn't thought about it. All I knew was that I wanted to start a blog and when I received a letter one day from the only friend who ever wrote to me anymore, I realized that I really, really missed receiving and writing letters.

When I noticed that a new follower's identity was "365 Letters," I was intrigued and clicked on her icon to find out more about her. It turns out that she has a blog called 365 Letters and started a project in January 2009 which involved writing one letter each day for the entire year of 2009. She completed this task and so created a new project for 2010: 365 Letter Writing Ideas. On Thursday, October 7th, she even wrote a little blurb about The Letter Writing Revolution. Anyway, I may take up this letter writing challenge and follow in her footsteps and write a letter each day for the whole year starting January 1st, 2011 (1-1-11). Anyone care to join me on this challenge? Check here to read about the completion of the 365 Letters Project and all that she learned. Worthwhile reading the lessons she picked up during this challenge.

A Year of Letters is a similar endeavour but written a bit differently than the 365 Letters blog. Her posts are short and sweet and accompanied by photos. She is a kindred letter writer who is spreading the joy one letter at a time. She does confess that her heart belongs to the "corresponding" letter writers. That is, sending out letters of congratulations, gratitude and encouragement are great but there's really nothing quite like sending out a letter and receiving one back. I know, I know, I spoke of surrendering in an earlier post however, I have to agree with her, I sure like receiving mail. Hint. Hint.

So, as I started to visit other blogs with the topic of letter writing, I unearthed more and more great blogs. I have so many more to discover and check out but for now, in this post, I wish to share some of the wonderful ones I have come across so far. Please check them out and get inspired.

Letter Matters is one of those blogs that really inspires. Particularly, I liked the post she wrote August 21st 2010 titled "Incoming Mail" as she writes about the uniqueness of writing and sending a letter by mail in comparison to emailing and texting from your phone. She also describes a glorious letter she received from a another letter writing blogger, Missive Maven, who has a blog celebrating 'old-fashioned letter writing and all of its yummy accoutrements.' One of the many interesting things about this blog is her stats about incoming mail and outgoing mail. She shares how many letters she wrote and received in a month. It is fascinating especially since she admits that her average response time to letters is four months at this point. That means if she received a letter in May, she is getting to it now. Wow! That is a lot of pressure. In today's post, she linked to another blog that celebrates Mail Art. Sirpa, a Finnish Artist, creates amazing one-of-a-kind postcards and stationery to send all over the world. She, too, blogs about all of the mail she is receiving and posts photos of the cool mail art that is being created and sent all over the world.

A sample of Sirpa's mail art: a note with her
handprint in red watercolour.

I stumbled across, Good Mail Day, and discovered that Carolee and Jennie have many talents but both love mail and mail art. About Jennie: "She spends far too much money on postage and smiles every time she hears the creak of mailbox hinges...." and Carolee: "When not maintaining her ‘writer’s bump’ by wielding a leaky fountain pen, Carolee teaches bookbinding classes and works as a conservation technician for the Stanford University Libraries." I definitely need to spend more time at this blog as it looks mighty interesting and I think I will enjoy their words and stories. And finally, Art of a Letter, is another blog I stumbled across. Although she doesn't post a whole lot, I do like her writing. I also plan to write her a letter. I have a feeling that I am going to gain some new pen pals in the next little while.

There is even the Letter Writers Alliance. There mission statement includes: "In this era of instantaneous communication, a handwritten letter is a rare and wondrous item. The Letter Writers Alliance is dedicated to preserving this art form. Prepare your pen and paper, moisten your tongue, and get ready to write more letters!"


On that note, here's to this journey of re-discovering the lost art of letter writing. I am excited about creating original mail art and to sending more and more letters out into the world. Remember, if you want to write, you can send me a letter to: Julie Keon, TLWR, P.O Box 533, Cobden, ON, K0J 1K0, Canada or if you want to receive a letter, send me your snail mail address to keonjulie@hotmail.com and I will write to you.