Are you a letter writer? Do you love receiving a letter?
I enjoy the creative space letter writing creates. Living on an island, it feels that letters are the best way to communicate. Phone calls often get distorted, or you lose connection when speaking, and I end up just getting frustrated with the quality of the call. But I find letter writing is a calm way to share news; sitting quietly and considering what to write is much more fulfilling.
Stationery Lover
I enjoy choosing the stationery. I use Notelets like back in the 1970’s, or I use my Basildon Bond writing paper and envelopes. I am a bit of a stationery nerd; I was sad when the shop Paperchase folded; it was my reason for a shopping trip to Exeter. Now I have found I can get stationery on Vinted! I thought it was just clothes. Waiting for a parcel of stationery is exciting and involves yet another crossing of the post to the island.
I write with a Cross Pen, given to me as a present in the 1980s, so many memories are experienced when writing a letter.
The Joy of Stamps
There is the joy of going to buy a stamp in the shop – then walking to the post office, in my case, AKA the Marisco Tavern. Then there is the chain of events which happen once the letter leaves the Marisco Post Office! The Journey to the mainland by ship or helicopter, where post then goes into the GPO Mail and is delivered by a postman to a letterbox on a door. A journey in itself and one that inspired my project ‘Post Sense’, which I undertook whilst studying for a Master’s degree, living on the Island.
Here on the island we have to obey rules for posting envelopes, which means the stamp goes on the bottom left. I love choosing the specific denomination of stamps; I have the luxury of dipping into a stamp folder that contains lots of past Lundy stamps. Sometimes I stick on at least four stamps, telling a story of time through stamps.
Address Book of memories
My only loss is an address book; I wish I had kept mine that I used from the 1970’s-1990’s. When my mum passed away, I received her Faux-leather blue address book; it was full of addresses for family and friends. It illustrated the history of people’s lives, addresses annotated or crossed out, as people moved or sadly died. Now, I am just adding names to a notebook, not quite the same as an address book, but for now it will do.
People who I write to often write back to me; the pinboard above my desk tells that story. I send letters knowing people are likely too busy or too frail to write back, but I don’t mind; I know that they enjoy getting the mail.
On the Island I have a traditional writing desk; sometimes my well-used computer sits there. Sometimes my typewriter, but then I will clear it all off to write a letter with a Cross pen in hand.
Letter vs. Postcard
Last World Letter Writing Day I wrote mainly about sending Postcards, quite a different concept to a Letter. A letter is more private, and the message is ‘Less Wish You Were Here’, but one that says, ‘You are in my thoughts’.
There’s a wave of letter writing starting up again; I see it on my Instagram feed regularly. Take a look at ‘The Sunday Letter Project’,
I wonder whether when I leave the Island, will I still write letters? Is it the island that creates the desire to correspond? Is it being across the water that makes you want to communicate differently?
So, if you haven’t sent a letter recently, why not do one for World Letter Writing Day? If you don’t know who to send one to, well, you know where I live!
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