send snail mail

I guess sending letters or cards through the mail is really either a grandmother or a hipster thing. I don't consider myself to be either, but I still can attest to the joy and wonder of sending and receiving snail mail.

Though the post office has sliding towards obsoleteness, it is still very much a complex network of communication technology. I can drop off a card with a pressed cherry blossom bud inside, and have it in my Seattle friend's hand in two days. What an improvement on the way mail used to work (read: guys on horseback). E-mail and other online modes of communication are obviously more convenient, but until you look forward to opening your mailbox because you know it won't be just bills and Pennysavers, you'll never understand. There is something incredibly special about handwritten, hand-delivered mail. It seems like our iPhones have made it impractical to communicate on a non-immediate basis—but every now and then, a little personalized care and effort can trump instant gratification.

When I was little, I had several pen pals. I found them from organizations like International Pen Friends, and also from American Girl magazine. These days, people are too well-connected (and also paranoid) to participate in those type of things in mass numbers. Making friends over the Internet is so commonplace these days, but sending those people physical mail is somehow weird.

One awesome thing I came across recently is reddit's Arbitrary Day—it's a worldwide "Secret Santa" exchange that isn't on Christmas. They call it "that time of year where we send each other gifts for no reason other than it makes us all happy!" You sign up (by May 26), write about your likes and dislikes,  get matched up with someone who will buy you a gift, and also be matched up with someone for whom you buy a gift. You can choose to be matched with someone in your country, or open yourself to international matching (which, though more costly in shipping, would probably yield more interesting gifts). The site recommends that you spend about $20 on your gift, but it's less about the cost, and more about the creativity and thoughtfulness. To me, it's also about utilizing the vast communicative technologies available to us and humanizing things. I can't wait to start gifting!

Check out some of the gifts that were exchanged on Arbitrary Day 2013!