Inked Intimacy

I like to think that one of the best things to happen to humanity is technology. It's brought us connections with the internet and our everyday gadgets, like our smartphones. It may feel as though we are much closer than our ancestors used to be without it, but when we think of the things it has taken away from us, we may reminisce about the experiences we used to have and miss them.

As far as I can remember, the first letter I received was from my first crush. Apparently, she was crushing on me too. We were young. I was 10 and she was 9, if I remember correctly. Or maybe a tad bit older. Anyway, we had mobile phones around then, but we hadn't connected beyond seeing each other in the neighbourhood yet.

Then one day, I got a letter from her. She had strategically placed it somewhere only I would find it, and then she hinted at me. I read it. My eyes shined at what I saw. I mean, it was brief, but I was surprised at what she thought about me. I don't even remember what was in that letter, but I was so excited to get it. And she had such pretty handwriting.

I imagined her in her pretty glasses, thinking of me and penning down her genuine thoughts about me. Surely, the feeling wouldn't have been the same with a text if she had done that instead. I responded with a letter too. With my chicken handwriting, I was hoping that love would help her look beyond it.

It was always really nice to see people write letters to people when I was much younger, particularly in schools. You'd see a piece of paper being passed around stealthily so the teacher doesn't catch it, and you just know it's some love letter or some random gossip between friends.

One time, I got another love letter during one of our school breaks. It was from another person I was crushing on. A friend of hers had slipped it into my food bag—which was just a small polythene bag with five sausage rolls and a small bottle of yoghurt—when I left for a while to cheer my friends playing football. And fast forward to a couple of weeks later, and this girl and I were dating. We were just two goofy twelve-year-olds.

Handwritten letters were more than just words written on paper. They often embodied more of the sender with their handwriting, the manner of delivery, and almost giving a bit of the sender's essence. And sometimes, they are perfect cherries on top of cakes for gifts.

Growing up, I wrote my mother heartfelt messages for her birthdays. I never really had the money or big ideas on what to present as gifts to her, so I usually wrote what I felt about her, showing her love and appreciation as a son who had always felt her love. She keeps them close, even now.

Almost anything is digital now, and handwritten letters are almost a myth—at least for the generations to come. We don't see or hear of people sending written letters to themselves for any reason. E-mail just cuts it. And so, slowly, with time, we no longer think of it.

I still love the concept of handwritten letters. When I want to be a little romantic with my woman, I take a second to reflect on something about her or about us and let my words just flow however they come. With a pen on paper in my journal, I would then take a photo of it and send it to her—because we are mostly far from ourselves these days.

She usually likes it when I do that—send her random photos of handwritten words to her. And I do, too. They are just much more different than the texts that we're all used to. It's a little more personal when it's handwritten, I think.

When she sends her handwritten letter to me, though, it's artwork. She's more creative with hers. much more stylish handwriting, so pretty, and there are doddles around. You sure can't get that with texts, or can you? _{Just what I thought...}

Moving on... And so when I found one of this week's prompts was about "something that has slowly faded away with time and that I would like to bring back," handwritten letters came to mind quickly. The digital space we have now somehow steals the realism we used to get from certain physical experiences.

Thinking more about it, I may as well turn it into some practice. Not just with letters to people I care about, but also with journaling for myself. I don't journal like I used to. It used to be one way I assessed my thoughts, expressed myself, and understood myself better.

Handwritten letters will always remain golden to me. It's something that gives a different feeling, especially with people we care about. It'll be nice to see it around as it used to be.