Me and my best friend of 13 years, are separated now that we’re in college. While we’re not terribly far away, it’s at least a two-hour drive from each other, so we only see one another about every other month. With that context, hopefully it makes sense why we wanted an extra something to keep us more connected than only texting. After all, it is a huge shift from seeing someone every day for over a decade to possibly not seeing them for months. So our solution for our sophomore years is to be pen pals!
I think snail mail is a lost art in the digital era. Why send a letter or a package to someone when you can text, email, or direct message someone for free and with ease? And while I definitely appreciate the efficiency of online messaging, sometimes it feels like I’m losing the connection with that person if we only hold our relationship online.Â
Most people probably know what a pen pal is, but essentially, it’s someone with whom you become friends by sending letters or packages back and forth. While it’s typically with someone you’ve never met, and is often used as a way to make friends, my best friend and I have decided to be pen pals with each other to maintain our friendship.Â
One of our favorite aspects of being pen pals is that we can send physical gifts to one another without any specific reason or occasion for it. We can draw something for each other, we can send stickers and photos, really anything you want! For example, in the last package I received from her, she sent a letter (responding to the one I sent her), and she printed some of her favorite poems that she had read recently for me to read. She also sent a physical copy of a book for me to read, annotate, and then send back to her so she can see my annotations and thoughts on the book.Â
Yes, many of these things can be done online, but it’s just not as fun. There’s less joy and whimsy. It feels like it means more when someone takes the time and effort to do these things with you.