We are halfway through the month, and through the Letter Writing Challenge.  I don’t about the rest of you letter writers, but I have really been enjoying myself. I have always been a big letter writer, but life threw me curve balls, and I had really fallen off the wagon. When I saw the challenge, I knew it was going to be a perfect way to put that spark back, to make me remember why I love writing letters.

Guess what? It worked!

Now, I do love my digital overlords. I have made some amazing, lasting friendships through ye olde WWW, but nothing in the world beats the connection you make through the post. Nothing.

So of course in true Aden Listy Fashion(tm) here are some of the things A Month of Letters has taught me.

• The art of slowing down. That it is okay for information to not be dispensed right this very second.
• Anticipation is a good thing. This goes with the above, it feels nice to have something to look forward to. To know that when I walk to the post box there might just be something good in there for me.
• There is art in letter writing. The paper, the handwriting, the crafting of sentences. It can be bold and wild, or subtle and slight in it’s beauty.
• It feels good to be a part of something. It’s like a little club of strangeness. Not everyone understands why you would bother with the post when you can email, text, IM.
• The beauty of unplugging. The longer this goes on, the easier it is to step away from the internet. I’m considering a month long break myself. Maybe longer.

I have also discovered there are a lot more letter writing fans than I realized. I have already made some great friends, and one of the great things is that a lot of us are writers! It is always good to have fellow creative souls to commune with. I think that is partly what as made this whole thing so special for me.

Also, I can sense a habit forming. If I don’t write at least one letter a day now, it feels strange.  I can’t think of a better habit to have.

ps: if you want to get mail from me, please email me your address and I will be happy to send you snail mail.   adenpenn @ gmail dot com

I am not going to lie, this post was really hard to make. Hard because I didn’t really feel like it, and because this list had to be mined. I had to wade through hip deep shit to find the diamonds. It’s been a bad day, and the last thing my mind wants to do is be full of rainbows and unicorn farts. But you know what?  At the end of this list, I started to feel much better.

• Bop Street Radio
• Microwave pop corn
• Playing 80′s music loudly on the drive home from work
• The creepy misty fog on the dark roads coming home
• The fact that the letter challenge starts tomorrow
• Remembering how much I accomplished before work today
• Five Minute Fiction
• Being able to stay up late & sleep in
• Star Wars
• Being missed when I am not around

  Someone on Friend Feed posted a link to a great challenge.  A Month of Letters. Yep, that’s right, a letter writing challenge.  The challenge is to mail one thing everyday the mail runs for the month of February.

I have been a letter writing fan for a very long time, I still do it. And last year I kind of fell off the snail mail wagon, even though I said I really wanted to rekindle my love for it.  I figure this is a perfect way to put a little fire under my butt.

The great thing I just found out about this challenge is the website. There are forums, to talk about the challenge and to pick up people to write to. Which is also a great thing, I have a group of dedicated friends that I unleash my snail mail on, but it would be great to have a few more to add to that collection. And it would be great if we kept writing even after the challenge is over.  Plus I have a pile of great stationary I got for Christmas that is crying to be used.

Hopefully I will remember to pop in here from time to time, and talk about the great letters/postcards that I have gotten from this challenge.

I noticed a lot of negativity today on the internet, and it really left a bad taste in my mouth. I am really starting to understand the idea of life being too short to dwell on that, and to be more open to focus on the happy things. The positive things.  I highly suggest making your own ten pieces of happy list, even if you just jot it down in a notebook. Take the time to remember the things that make you happy.

• The way traffic lights reflect on a rainy road
• Cherry/Vanilla Diet Coke
• Candlelit showers
• A lazy day off
• Finding geeky crochet patterns
• Being able to buy postage online
• Mac and cheese with sausage
• Fleece blankets
• Big Bang Theory
• Baroque music