The US Postal Service is requesting the biggest stamp price increase in its history; from 50 cents to 55 cents for a letter weighing one ounce. The USPS reports that "the Postal Service has some of the lowest letter mail postage rates in the industrialized world." But in the last ten years, first-class mail sent through the Post Office has dropped by more than 50 percent. We receive only ten pieces of personal mail every year in most households, not including written invitations and holiday cards. Snail mail has taken a way, way back seat to email, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat.
Seems like a perfect time to rethink putting pen to paper, paper in envelope, and stamp on envelope! Because….
· Writing by hand helps us better retain information.
· Writing by hand enables us to be more creative.
· Writing by hand stands out in a world cluttered by the 24/7 barrage of technological messages.
· Writing by hand forces us to slow down, breathe, think.
· Writing by hand necessitates that we consider both our thoughts and the person who will – quite happily – receive our personal note.
· Writing by hand not only makes the writer feel good. It sends a message to the note’s recipient that ‘someone is thinking and caring about you’. Extra effort and time spent on a task are a clear sign of affection.
· Writing by hand ensures a recorded document of a particular moment in one’s personal history.
· Writing by hand creates a memento that can be long kept and cherished - by the recipient, and subsequent generations.
When was the last time you received a hand-written note? Remember how it made you feel happy, appreciated, special, supported, loved?
Let’s help save the USPS. Visit the post office and buy some Forever stamps before stamps increase in price. Write a couple notes a month at first. Then jot one note a week if possible. Each note can be a couple written sentences, or many paragraphs. What matters most is that the simple act of writing and sending a personal note, card, or letter will make you feel great. And it will make the lucky recipient of your note feel even better!