Activity 12 - 30 days of letters

When I had the initial concept for this project I knew that I would include an activity based around Lakshmi Pratury on letter-writing. This was partly because it is such a simple and practical concept that lends itself to the project, and partly because it allows me to indulge in my passion for fancy paper and handwriting :-)

The talk

In her talk on letter-writing, Lakshmi Pratury explains that there is a beauty and personal nature to writing a letter that is being lost with electronic communication. It forms a physical connection between two people, no matter how much time or distance has gone by - it can even bridge a gap between the living and the dead.

The challenge

This is a seemingly simple challenge, although I'm sure it will be inherently more complicated to write letters of importance. The challenge will be to capture my thoughts and feelings about the important people in my life as letters - beautiful and personal letters. Possibly the more difficult part of the challenge will be mailing the letters.

I think that this is probably a timely reminder for me about the value of writing letters for a deeper connection, since our friends and family seem to be so far away since we've moved to Tasmania. Emails, text messages and phone calls just don't seem to cut it.

The activity

Quite simply, this activity will consist of writing letters to some of my family and friends. Some of these letters will be simple descriptions of how things are going, so just updating people through a letter. The majority of the letters will be very personal, capturing my feelings and letting them know things that I might not have articulated in the past. And to make these letters even more special I will try to source beautiful paper that helps me tell the story of the letter.

Blog posts during this time will be more like reflections about the process and letters I have found particularly difficult, and I do expect some of these to be difficult.