Why is writing love letters important?

Love letters? Love notes? Valentine’s Day cards filled with lovely words and feelings that could only be for you? I can’t imagine anyone not being pleasantly surprised to find one of those on the doormat instead of a bill or junk mail, can you? Yet it’s rare these days isn’t it that we even get one? Especially if it says something really meaningful inside or something witty to make you smile. Or if it’s from a dear friend you’ve not spoken to for a while or the niece you adore even… The impact is far from fleeting for me.

The power of love letters

When we’re feeling low or life is weighing heavily upon us, hearing from someone we love can be the thing that resets and restores us. It fills up our cup. There’s a reason that events like Letters Live, where outstanding performers from Olivia Coleman to Benedict Cumberbatch read letters of note aloud, can either move people to tears or have them howling with laughter. They demonstrate that these emotive and precious notes can stand the test of time.

The feeling the written word gives us can last much longer than we might think anyway. If we’re sent a love letter, we might keep it on our desk or shelf and see it every morning, so we get a kind of a re-ignition each time and a reminder that we’re loved. Plus in this digital age where everything seems to be so screen-dependent, receiving something in the post is a lovely way to cut through, to stir up nostalgia and remind us just how wonderful it feels to see the handwriting of someone dear to us.

Why send Valentine’s Day cards? Especially to friends, sisters and mums...

These are notes we might well treasure in years to come — the legacy of a friendship or relationship even, at that precise point in time. There’s also something about a love note or card being intended just for us. For all the busy women I know who often come bottom of the list and feel somewhat invisible, this is a wonderful way to make someone feel seen and cherished.

Of course, it shouldn’t take Valentine's Day for us to send cards and traditionally, it’s just our partners that we’d send to in February anyway. But why? If it’s a day intended for love, why not use it as an excuse to show love to all those you love, and furthermore, to those who need it most, whether that’s your husband or wife, or absolutely anyone else you hold dear?

The fact that you’ve shown you are thinking of them can help strengthen your relationships and it’s also good for the soul. The art of putting pen to paper isn’t just impactful for the receiver. You get to express yourself and your feelings too, and actually take a moment to really think about what you want to get across. It’s pretty powerful stuff if you ask me.