Challenge: No texting ... Use a photo & write an e-letter!
OK...I'm a dinosaur in that I don't own a cell phone (for a growing number of reasons). At the outset, I didn't want face-to-face time with friends to be interrupted with a call. Currently I hear that no one speaks to one another without texting.
I'm old school, but while I love my computer, I have a foot in the past, loving the handwritten letter that used to be savored and anticipated, even before carefully opening the envelope. "Back then", someone took the time to write a personal note that could be read and reread. Still today, I can gaze upon the envelope written during the Civil War & sent to a multi-great grandmother of mine, and I laugh to reread letters I sent to my grandmother, signing my full name and adding, "Jr" because I was named for her! Some old letters make me happy, some sad, some make me blush to recall... But they're little diaries I can hold in my hand and pass along to the next generation someday.
This email letter might be better enjoyed than a text, but it's likely to still be transient. Still, in today's world, I hope it projects that "I cared enough to send the/my very best" (and it didn't cost $4.99!)
Louise, you are one of the most thoughtful people I have ever met. I hope you are feeling better. I am sorry that I didn't get to see you today but I was committed to taking pictures of a good friend's wedding. I will get up to visit you and Ken soon.
Such a lovely idea Louise!! I would be thrilled to receive something like this!! Like you I love the written word and get excited when I do get an actual letter - snail mail!! I love the font you have used - is it a common one - I have never seen it before. Fav for such a lovely message so very well presented!!
Fabulous Louise. I have to say, I'm a texter, emailer, facebooker, BUT I also am a letter writer at appropriate times, and although I have a mobile phone (mostly to keep in touch with our kids) I NEVER allow the phone to take precedence over a 'real' conversation. If it rings, I let it go to voicemail, and I deal with it later. If a text comes through, it too can wait. I do, however, check my phone regularly, so as to be able to react to any callers/texters relatively promptly. It's a great tool, but must be managed! I despair when I see young mums ignoring their babies and scrolling through their phones instead. Anyway, I loved your post, and here's to real letters! :-)
Yes, seeing a group of young people in a restaurant all texting so sad. And all the photos are on a phone and sometimes cannot be transferred to a new one or get lost because of something technical. So no boxes of wonderful old photos to pass along. What's funny is we now save the ashes of loved one (well I buried mine but know lots who don't) but we don't print pictures. I'll take the old box of photos to a bottle of ashes.
Yeah for all of us that feel like dinosaurs :) sadly it's a changing world but Zi too love reading the old cards/letters I have from past family members. i love your presentation of this message :)
I also love a hand written letter. There's nothing quite like it, especially in a world filled with less and less real communication and more and more staring at phone screens. The things that make us feel connected can not be found in a cell phone.
What a lovely gesture Louise. A beautiful capture of the lovely flowers. A handwritten note is always a delight to receive. Despite the fact that I have a 'smart phone' I do my best to ignore it. I don't like it when out and about seeing people who are more interested in their phones than with the people that they are with.
We are from the good old school Louise as I often drop a card in the mail just to say thank you or hello. It is still nice to receive a hard copy to hold and read. Some things, feelings cannot be replaced by the real
I just love what you did to the photo. You are so creative. Yes, everything has gone towards text. I even typically will text someone before I call them to be sure they have time! When I was a child, we moved every year, so I kept in touch with friends by letters that I still have. I still will write letters to some friends. One of my college roommates has no phone or even a computer, so we only keep in touch via snail mail!
@pamknowler Thanks so much, Pam! That font is called "Dancing Script" and I downloaded it from the Internet. I don't recall exactly the site I used, but I think I just googled "fonts" and one came up with hundreds of choices. Of course I loved many of them, but before saving everything, I'd ask myself, "How do I plan to use this..." Oh, though I can use them in email, they're not received in that font (unless the recipient has it as well.) That's why I write in Photoshop, and I know Picmonkey now lets you use your fonts, so they'll be received that way by another. Glad to be able to share this!
I do so enjoy what you do with your e-letters! :) I'm sure that whomever receives one feels enormously special! Glad to know you are finding ways to stay creative! :) I owe you an email! :)
Ah Louise, I'm another dinosaur. I have cell phone but cannot get a signal here which is great as nobody can text me. I do write letters and do email but as my typing g skills are very poor I prefer to write. This is a lovely note to go with the flowers
i do exchange notes from time to time with an old friend, but can't recall writing a letter in years. i have a cell phone but i use it mostly for a light meter app i installed on it. looks and works just like the old ones.
Beautiful and a lovely 365 pic. postcard. Nearly the same as receiving one.
Tools are change not the intention.
I`ve a cell phone, seldom use it. I like it to have them with me for emergency . Writing letters I did a lot in the past ( I was a sailor) but getting older it makes it not better. I use to write nice but lost it. Now I`m glad if they can read it. Some of the new possibilities we get I do like . E.mail is one of them. Digital photograph a second one.
@francoise Francoise, that was my idea that people here should use this idea to personalize a note of their own! I'm delighted that you want to do it! I love being able to send some of my photos in this way, I know you'll enjoy it, too!
@jamibann What a lovely response, Issi! You're clearly an up-to-date and modern woman, but your perspective is correct in managing all the technology. I have a friend who goes to Disneyland frequently, and she says it's a travesty to watch moms walking with their children down Main Street, and instead of engaging them about all the sights and music, they have the child by the hand and they're texting with the other. They'll completely miss the best moments in life...
@chard I asked Ken if he knew what a light meter app was...I know he uses the flashlight on his phone. Like you, email has made it so easy to stay in close, frequent touch with the best friends of the past. I'm sure I'm able to stay in touch with more in this fashion than if I were trying to write letters to them all.
@snowy I started to write that I can't wait to start receiving letters from the grand kids, but I do have one! It was a thank you for his 3rd birthday presents, and, while he dictated his note, he added a very detailed drawing... Heather said that in every note, his drawings were different and depicted the gifts he was given! I'm looking forward to seeing what he does with that artistic enthusiasm!
@danette What a wonderful note that was to receive! I, too, moved 18 times before leaving for college! (Dad was a consulting engineer) It was a wonderful life lesson (as you, too seem to have taken it!) I stayed in touch via letters through the years, though with the advent of the Internet, those letters became less and came to an end. It was a good run and I learned so much by writing frequently! Glad it was the same for you! Invaluable!
@digitalrn There's emotion in the hand-written word that can't be conveyed in the same way on the computer. Some might argue that fact, but I completely believe it to be true. Just ask a graphoanalyst (some who work as police detectives even, if that also is in doubt!)
@Weezilou it's a free app that i don't really need, but it's kind of cool. looks like the old light meter you probably used back when you were "junior".
@ludgate I was amazed to read your photo site and find the depth of wisdom there in one your youthful age! Now I find I'm delighted to read your comment and see again what a level head you have and to know there's a thoughtful younger generation ready to look after the world for us oldsters! I think I need to be following you Megan :)
@thirdjoe Joe, that's about the sweetest thing anyone's said in some long while. Thank you...and I'll continue to try to live up to those expectations. I do feel improvement over where I began and would love some good company when it can be arranged! I think I'll be easy to find in the weeks ahead :) Ya'll come!
@joansmor I am so touched by the poignancy of your introspective comment...and am in 100% agreement! The losses, bit by bit, in human interaction, learning to read body language, learning to articulate, and missing out on personal time will affect people over time, I fear. Again and again people tell me that can't access their cell phone photos, and if they try to send one, I receive a blank email message... I won't be a naysayer to anyone who sees this differently, but, like you, I want that box of photo memories and some written words to go with them... ♥
@Weezilou But I am bad in that I prefer my Ereader to a paper book. Mostly because it keeps track of where I am. I mostly do audio books. So I love tech but not to the exclusion of human interaction.
This is such a fascinating thread and it raises all the complicated things today of convenience, timing, need for interaction but how differently that's defined today, etc. Beautifully crafted email card.
Sounds like a fun project. You are always generous with your ideas. On another note, a gentleman who volunteers with the Richmond Public Schools came by to pick up our discarded books as he does each summer and we got to talking about his summer plans. He and his wife camp each summer in Lunenburg! I gave him your 365 link so he can enjoy looking at your photos. He told me there is a potter from Richmond who also spends the summer there! Who knew!
@allie912 muensterma@gmail.com drop me a note with their names, and I'll send you my contact information. I seem to have lost your email address (if I ever had it... I surely had your home addy when I sent the booklet) Thanks for letting me know...! (Several times we've entertained "friends of friends"...Anita and John Campbell of 365, being one of the couples... I'd met their daughter and she asked if we'd make them welcome. We've been friends since!
i hate texting and i hate being on the phone. many times, i've missed important phone calls because i either have my phone on silent or it's somewhere around the house. i love emailing though if only for its instantaneous-ness. of course, i could write and write and write. the only mail i get these days are from the bank and the hydro company. :-D if i have to mail a note to anyone, i have those "blank cards" where i could attached one of my flower shots and write a short (or long) note and send it by snail mail. i'm pretty sure i'd be doing what you're doing if i'm sidelined like you are, or else i'd be moping with a big tin of godiva chocolates!
@summerfield I'll have to get Ken to photograph me...here where I sit daily in my "chair", computer on my lap, open door so I can enjoy the fresh air, and that all-important box of See's chocolates on the table at my elbow... My friends know what I like! And no moping allowed )or aloud!)
@Weezilou - did i tell you i just spent 50-some dollars on godiva chocolate (strawberry cheesecake flavour, to die for!!!) although i gave half to the girls in reception because they're just very nice young kids but i had to buy for moi! i can send you some but i don't know where you are right now.
Another extremely thoughtful gesture as always, Louise, even when you are bedridden and people should be attending to you, and not the other way around!
Tools are change not the intention.
I`ve a cell phone, seldom use it. I like it to have them with me for emergency . Writing letters I did a lot in the past ( I was a sailor) but getting older it makes it not better. I use to write nice but lost it. Now I`m glad if they can read it. Some of the new possibilities we get I do like . E.mail is one of them. Digital photograph a second one.
Tell you what...hold the thought, and when you come for a visit in NS, you can bring along a box then... ♥