I thought that writing a letter every day of the year would not only be very challenging but perhaps therapeutic and cleansing. I suppose I would have to get very creative as far as who I would write to each day as it wouldn't take long to run through my address book. I would begin to receive letters in reply and then answering those letters would count towards the project. The thing is when I put my mind to something or make a decision, I stick to it come hell or high water. That's what scares me about launching something like this. I have a lot on my plate with being the mother of a child with special needs, running a home business, attempting to turn myself into a Pin Up Girl by April 2011 and the myriad of other things that make up one's life. Do I want to add yet another challenge to the mix?
I do write a lot of letters and could easily make a list at the start of each month and then write one letter per day as opposed to five on one day like I would normally do. I would have to spread it out and set aside 20 minutes each day for the letter writing experience. I almost said "letter writing task" but that sounded like it was a chore as opposed to something fulfilling for the soul (both mine and the recipient).
Then I thought I could make it a 260 Day Project and take weekends off but it didn't have the same ring to it. I may do some research on the topic by visiting the blog of someone who actually did the same project this year and is presently on Letter #344. It is a guide blog of sorts and could provide much needed inspiration if I (or you!) decided to embark on such a project.
What do YOU think? Anyone else remotely interested in doing something like this?
Angelia is on the tail end of her Year of Letters and probably has a lot to share about the experience. I just embarked on MailArt365 where about 20 mail enthusiasts will create at least one piece of mailart a day. It began 1 Dec 2010 and I have yet to miss a day ... though it has only be 16 days :-) I am going to work hard at fulfilling that challenge, though.
ReplyDeleteI've actually been planning on doing the 365 Day Photo Challenge wherein you take a picture every day...some people go as far as specifying that it be a picture of themselves or something representative of themselves, I haven't decided which direction I'm going in yet...
ReplyDeleteI love this idea, but unlike you, I have very little willpower/self-control/stick-to-it-iveness...so I'd likely fail after 2 weeks! I do love it though. Wonder if I could make it a project that suits me better...like knitting 100 stitches per day for a year? Hmmm
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad I found you! I've been trying to get people to start writing letters again. I began small with the idea of handwritten notes. Simple and easy, right? I bought 6 copies of the little book, The Art of the Handwritten Note. My giveaway? A copy of the book, a fountain pen and 6 of my notecards with envelopes, and 6 stamps! No takers.
ReplyDeleteI simmered for months, but the urge to get Americans writing again just will not go away. What was next? Sending postcards! That's writing, right? Seems Europeans love to write. They do.
Still not enough. What did I do? I wrote a letter to America. I figured one a week would be good. Ha! No one answered. So. I have decided to wait for January 1, 2011 and I will write a letter to America every day for a year. On my blog though. :) I might get arrested if I chose random addresses from the phone book and wrote . . . Do they still make phone books???
I'd like to hear more about your idea. Am glad I found you! I'm here via The Letter Writer's Alliance. I discovered them after ordering goodies for my fountain pens. So, I'm all eyes. Good show!
But isn't the 356 project also about diversity? So, exploring correspondence daily would include writing social letters, creating stationary and postcards (even elephant dung paper), writing advocacy letters, sending words into the world via messages stamped into the snow of your frontlawn or ribbons hung of trees, exploring important letters in history or research linking stress reduction and writing letters to yourself. Limiting the knitting project to a number of stitches daily can speed you towards failure, so how about all things fibre: include spinning in there, and then incorporate different fibres into your spinning (cleaned fur from your longhaired pets or baby hair), explore knitting with unusual things like plastics or vines or knit something you don't think could be knitted (Interweave once had an article on a screen door that had been knitted). Stretch yourself with the photo project and incorporate using Photoshop to artistically modify some of your shots, re-introduce yourself to a film camera and shoot colour-processed B&W film and try some pinhole, low light and/or macro photography.
ReplyDeleteIt would be wonderful to use those 365 days to explore your creativity within the project instead of just wandering through the year by rote.
When you put it that way, Christine, I KNOW I don't have the time or energy :-)
ReplyDeleteI like the simple act of writing a letter per day whether it be to a friend, a social cause, on behalf of someone who needs it, to a newspaper, to the government, etc. As long as a letter gets written......
I've been thinking about the 365 project since I read your post....I have a few ideas but fear the commitment. Right now, I'm thinking about 365 days of taking care of me. 20 minutes a day to do something for me. Forcing me to put myself at the top of my to-do list. Trying something new every day maybe? I'll ponder on it some more until I find the right direction for this. Thanks for inspiring.
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