1. No one likes an empty mailbox
Have you ever gone to your mailbox filled with the expectation that it will be filled to the brim with lovely letters and then, upon opening, find only a flyer for an upcoming school event? If this sounds familiar, never fear for the solution is as creative as it is easy! Simply write your friends at other schools (or even your friends on campus), your mom, or your favorite celebrity or politician. I can’t promise that Beyonce will write back but a girl can dream. (Beyonce, if you’re reading this, let’s be pen pals, ok?) Even though your celebrity of choice may not respond, it’s likely your friend at college wants to receive mail as much as you do and will, therefore, be a committed pen pal. Say goodbye to that empty mailbox!
2. Stamps!
Contrary to popular belief, stamps are not just for that one kid in middle school who had a collection. Shout out to the United States Postal Service for providing us with creative decoration for our handwritten letters. These kind souls have even organized available stamps into categories such as “History,” “Holiday,” “Love,” and “Nature.”
3. Save them as a keepsake
If you start now, you can document this transformative time in your life through letters between you and your chosen recipient. Eventually, you’ll have a collection of memories that you can reflect on in your golden years.
4. A reason to buy that cute, albeit overpriced, stationery
I feel this reason on a deep, personal level. How many times have I stood in a stationery store trying to justify spending that much money on a new set of cards? The answer is embarrassingly high, but this dilemma usually ends with me purchasing the cards with the intent to write that friend I haven’t heard from in a while. Treat yo’ self! Buy the cards!
5. You’ll become more thoughtful
I believe we’ve all sent a text that, upon further inspection, could have been worded better. Well, one of the benefits of the written word is that we tend to think more critically when writing something on that very expensive stationery than we would when sending a quick text. Through snail mail, you’ll become more thoughtful with your words. Who knows, maybe you’re the next Wordsmith and you just haven’t realized because you’ve been sending poorly constructed text messages.