I love letters. Snail mail, happy mail. Whatever you care to call it. It makes my day to receive mail which isn't brown or has its own transparent window.
A little while ago I came across Mysterious Letters. An art project by two artists, Lenka Clayton and Michael Crowe.
They aimed to mail everyone in a world a letter. A personal, handwritten letter to every household in the world. Quite an ambition.
So they began in Cushendall in Northern Ireland mailing 467 individual letters to the inhabitants of the small seaside town. Each letter was different, sent on the same day, in order that they be received at the same time. Lenka and Michael hoped that the letters would create curiosity and neighbourly discussion about where or why the letters had been written.
They have continued posting letters to Polish Hill, Pittsburg, St Gallen, Switzerland and Cologne, Germany. Over 2000 letters have been posted to date.
So when #PostCircle caught my eye on twitter recently. I rushed to join in. I can't resist the prospect of little slices of happy popping through my letterbox.
If any of you are interested, you can find out more in this post from Anna who has organised the whole thing. Now I have the perfect excuse to stock up on some pretty stationery.
i love love love handwritten letters, they are so much more special and personal in this overly technical age :) i think i may write some friends some letters...thank you for sharing bee :) x
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely story, we don't get enough handwritten letters now. I used to write to a friend when he was a Uni, we wrote stories to each other, his were so funny.....wish I'd kept them! :) x
ReplyDeleteWhat a magic thing to try and do! I too have signed up to #postcircle - sent my first letter this week, and received one! So lovely to have post that isn't bills or pizza shop flyers!x
ReplyDeleteI love REAL letters too! I love big projects like these, and would love to get involved! Thank you for sharing this snail-mail goodness!
ReplyDeleteCarly
x
What a fantastically ambitious project, to write to everyone in the world! I sometimes like sending anonymous post too. Just because :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for joining in #PostCircle, Bee, glad you're enjoying spreading the happy mail love around! x
What a wonderfully ambitious, but oh so simple idea! I just love it. I loved having a penpal when I was younger, it was so great having post waiting for you :) Thanks for sharing Bee x
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing idea, just think of all those people who have no family, who cant get out of their homes etc etc receiving a handwritten letter :)
ReplyDeleteI love writing letters, don't know why I don't do it more often. Funny how we share every thing here online with people we've never met but hesitate about writing an intimate letter to one person.
ReplyDeleteI joined postcircle too (can't find the hashtag key on my laptop, where is it?!) and can't wait to get writing. X
I also love writing and receiving letters! Sadly I get very few...:(. What a lovely, lovely idea this is.
ReplyDeleteM xxxx
Oh wow, wow, wow! Now THIS is so inspiring! Thank you for posting about this. Can't wait to read all about this project! Happy weekend Bee, I know that the post I received from you made me super happy :) xx
ReplyDeleteSounds great want to join too! Will go take a look! X
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing, what a lovely lovely idea! Think I'll join too!
ReplyDeleteI did such an exchange recently (on a much much smaller scale) and rediscovered the joy and sending and receiving a handwritten letter, I loved it! And I already have a considerable stash of stationery ;)
I love snail mail too! When I was younger I had loads of pen pals and I still prefer sending 'real' letters instead of emails. Have a lovely weekend! x
ReplyDeleteWow, what a great initiative! So nice that people still take the time to write a "normal" letter...
ReplyDeleteI'm sending you one soon, together with your bit of spring ;-), love from Mirjam.
What a fascinating project. Whether some will admit it or not, wouldn't we all get a little tingle to receive a handwritten letter from a total stranger?! -- Jan
ReplyDeleteThis is ace! What a brilliantly, madly ambitious project. I love it. Thanks for sharing Bee - going off to investigate postcircle now. There is nothing like a handwritten envelope popping through your door to brighten the day. I still have many of the letters I received from family and friends when I was at Uni and lived in Spain. Some are so precious, others are hilarious! x
ReplyDeleteHow nice! I love receiving post and sending too. I've not heard the term 'happy mail' before but think I prefer it to 'snail mail'! x
ReplyDeletewhat a lovely idea - spreading a little happiness!
ReplyDeleteNikki x
Oh I simply adore this idea. How wonderfully refreshing to send a letter to everyone in the same town. I too get very excited when a real letter pops through the letter box. Thanks so much for sharing xox Penny
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing idea that art project is, and Anna's too. I just don't have the time right now to take anything else on but I do hope Post Circle is still going when I do :D
ReplyDeleteI love the sound of this. You are so right, Bee - "real" post is hard to beat. I get very happy when a magazine or parcel lands on the door mat. Mind you, anything is better than junk mail and bills.
ReplyDeleteGillian x
that's an interesting and ambitious idea! snail mail is good, I brought some postcards to send recently, see if I can start a craze! Heather x
ReplyDeleteHello I am new to your blog and so glad I popped by, this is absolutely up my street! Thanks for sharing. I think I may be one of the last people in the world with a pen pal! We have been writing on and off since 2002. I love snail mail.
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing project that is! I much prefer to write and receive "proper" letters; much better than text or email!
ReplyDeleteOoh, I love the idea of this. I still have a couple of snail mail friends and there's nothing nicer than sitting down with a cuppa to read their letters!
ReplyDeleteI've just discovered your lovely blog and I'm so pleased that I did!
Jo
What an amazing idea, I will certainly check out the links! Lizzie
ReplyDeleteThis is such a wonderful idea - I'm going to check out Anna's post now and see if I can get involved :) xx
ReplyDeleteAmbitious, but magical!
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