Sending messages via pen and paper dates back to thousands of years ago. Between birthday cards and love notes, letters have become a sort of tradition in humanity. We use them for celebration, for sorrow, for love, and for expressing gratitude. Unfortunately, the new technology wave that has hit the world by storm is starting to impede on this tradition of expressing our thoughts on paper. While sending and receiving text messages is fast and easy, they doesn't speak the same volumes as a handwritten card.

The loss of letters to technology has changed our culture and the way people express their thoughts to each other. Technology pushes us to be brief and quick with our thoughts, so we're not communicating to the same level of depth we used to. Even though technology is pushing to replace pen and paper, it's important that we don't lose the art of letter writing because it's such an integral part of who we are as people.

Although receiving a thoughtful text or email is nice, there's a different level of excitement in receiving mail from a good friend or loved one. Unlike a terse text message, a letter shows how you care enough about a person to take time to write out a kind note. There's no better way to show someone you love than by sending a card with a sweet note inside. These cards and letters don't just serve the purpose of communication but are also artifacts that can be saved over time. Letters are symbolic of relationships, and they've played a big role in dating culture for centuries. "The Notebook" wouldn't be such a beloved love story if Allie's mother came to Noah's door carrying her phone with the hundreds of text messages Allie wrote for him. While texts are temporary, letters are timeless.

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Letter writing is also good practice for keeping writing skills up to par. Technology has allowed for laziness when we communicate, so we've lost sight of crucial composition skills. Many educated adults make errors in their writing, and writing skills have taken a backseat in childhood education. Schools are dropping curriculums centered around handwriting, cursive and grammar, and many students enter college unable to produce an acceptable piece of writing. Even some of the most intelligent people make consistent grammatical or spelling errors, and although these may seem like minute mistakes, these little errors reflect poorly on a person's intelligence.

Given all the benefits to written communication, it's time we make a greater effort to put down our phones and pick up our pens. Nothing speaks sincerity like a handwritten note, and chances are your small efforts will greatly brighten someone's day. Letter writing is an art, and it would be tragic to lose such an important tradition to technology and our unwillingness to put in some extra time for our friends. Let's appreciate the culture surrounding letter writing, let's get excited about receiving cards from our loved ones, and let's be eager to mail a reply. Happy writing!