I love square envelopes! Reliving the lost art of snail mail

These days I’m a city girl, with a tiny mailbox in a row of mailboxes where bills slip but packages could never thank. Every now and then, instead of those efficient-sized business envelopes, my heart leaps to see (even if it’s crammed there!) Something else: mysteriously bulging large manila envelopes; square colored envelopes; postcards. All of these treated with real human calligraphy.

When I was little, one of my favorite books to check out was full of ideas for unusual things to send in the mail. I immediately got addicted and started cultivating penpals, even if they were as far away as the other side of town. I also kept it during college. Once, memorably, I sent a friend home a plastic shark that we use to garnish some ridiculous mixed drinks at the restaurant where he worked. On another occasion, I opened one of the most beautiful silver square envelopes I have ever seen from an exciting new correspondent to unfold a giant sheet of vellum covered in his tiny, beautiful cursive. The wind caught it like a candle.

Sure, I send emails and texts and Facebook and Twitter. And in fact I’m posting this on the internet, not licking square envelopes and sending them home. But this is our world. It doesn’t have to mean the end of one of my favorite hobbies that creates my favorite artifacts. Long live letter writing! Long live Snail Mail!

Do you want to follow my example? Here are some tips:

1. Be tactile. Make an appointment at your local stationery store. Start with what feels good in your own hands and pleases in your own eyes. Heavy paper, the lightest vellum, handmade rice paper with pressed flowers … Run your fingers through the loose leaves. Try the pens on the scribble pads provided. Splurge on gold stamps or quirky stickers, if that’s your thing. The sensory experience of letter writing is as delightful as the sensory experience of receiving letters. Find out what she likes and take a couple of sheets home.

2. Adopt your handwriting. With all the work we do on computers, some of us hardly ever pick up a pen anymore, except to sign credit card receipts. But you learned to write and print (remember the difference?) In elementary school and, like riding a bike, you still know how. Try to be legible, but adopt the unique shape of your natural handwriting. It says a lot about you, as you have heard, but above all that you are alive and you care. A page covered with your unique script is a treasure for the recipient.

3. Know your audience. Sit down and write a letter to the person you would most like to receive a letter from. Take as much time as you would appreciate it if that person took while writing. Include details that they will love, the kind of details that you hope they will include in their answer. If you want, you can include a SASE (self-addressed envelope) in your letter, but even better is to choose your pen pal wisely, finding someone who will surprise you with witty and charming letters designed especially for you.