While letter-writing may seem to be a lost form of art, stats show otherwise. During the initial quarantine period in March 2020, online stationery brand, Papier, noted a 300 percent increase in sales of notecards and writing paper, and the trend has continued into 2021. Gen Z is jumping on the bandwagon too—WGSN, a global authority on consumer and design trends, reports that TikTok’s hashtag #penpal has more than 295 million views and penpal communities, such as #Penpalooza have emerged to connect those longing for snail-mail all over the globe. Given the ubiquity of Zoom calls and excess screen time, this form of “slow communication” is the antithesis of digital communication, and thus a cathartic practice I keep in my personal happiness arsenal. And after hearing from several experts on the science-backed mental health benefits of penning notes by hand, I’m not stopping anytime soon. From increasing mental clarity to fostering relationships, here are five fantastic reasons to shut the laptop and opt to write, stamp and mail a real-life envelope. “When we think about an idea or concept, we can get stuck looking at it one way,” says Erin Miers, Psy.D., a licensed psychologist and psychology consultant for Mom Loves Best, shares. “When we actually put pen to paper, a different part of our brain begins to examine the idea, opening new doors. The repetitive nature of writing gives us the option to focus on what we are writing or on the process and physicality of the act of writing. By moving between both, we work on different aspects of our brain, which can help our brain explore different aspects of the idea we are writing about.” RELATED: What Mindfulness Does to Your Brain: The Science of Neuroplasticity RELATED: 15 Uplifting Gifts to Send Someone Going Through a Hard Time “By reaching out to others rather than just writing for oneself, a person has the opportunity to enter into exchanges that can bolster mental health—and as an added benefit, one can boost the mental health of another person,” says Michael Mazius, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist and director of the North Shore Center in Wisconsin. RELATED: “Old-Fashioned” Niceties That Deserve a Comeback Stay Consistent. Just like yoga and meditation, make letter-writing a practice. As with any habit, it takes repetition and, as such, it is essential to cultivate a time and space to nourish this seed of compassion," says Ilsley. Start a tradition. For example, every year, Sherry Richert Belul, founder of Simply Celebrate, writes the same number of letters as the age she’s turning. Belul used to get sad around her birthday, but then had the brilliant idea to write letters to strangers. She shared, “Writing these ’love letters’ instantly made me feel like I was connected to the person I was writing to and most of all, I felt connected to my heart. Taking the focus off of me made my birthdays feel so special.” Send Missives Into the Future. In his forthcoming book, Stupid Things I Won’t Do When I Get Old (on-sale June 29, 2021) award-winning author Steven Petrow has a full chapter on the power of letter-writing, specifically writing letters to your loved ones to be read posthumously. He shares with us that, “Sending missives into the future, telling your loved ones how you feel about them, or writing letters to be read on the dates of specific milestones (graduation, marriage, baby) is one of the most precious things you can give, and also serves to keep memories alive if [someone has] passed on.”
