Tag Archives: the world needs more love letters

This hole you're in? It's not so mighty.

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Please Note: As today’s featured blogger for More Love Letters, I wrote this for Madeline, a high school student who started homeschooling herself last winter after falling behind in her studies because of her depression and anxiety. Winter is particularly tough for her and she’s really in need of some inspiration that things will get better. More Love Letters is running the 2nd Annual 12 Days of Love Letter Writing through tomorrow (Dec. 14). Join me?

Dear Madeline,

I’m going to tell you a story in the hopes that, despite the fact that I have only half a decade or so on ya, it sparks some hope inside you.

Three years ago, I came close to dropping out of college. Not forever and not for lack of motivation—I had spent most of that semester cramming my small self into a study corral for five six seven hours at a time.

chalkboard-black-mightyhole

I was depressed. Deep down inside my bones. In the hole in my gut. In my tired fingers as I read and reread the same statistics problems. While every other twenty-year-old was out on the Quad throwing Frisbees in the April sun. I was sinking into myself and focusing on my grades rather than admit that I couldn’t eat anything without straight up feeling bad about it.

So I know what that feels like, when your health comes trampling all over your ache to just be fine just fine. Just be happy. Just be calm.

Anxiety has held me hostage for my entire life and depression almost lost me a semester. I don’t want that for you. I don’t want you to lose your spark and your spunk and your hope that this hole you’re in? It’s not so big. It’s not so mighty. It’s not doing anything but keeping you from ever seeing the sun.

We worriers and anxious ones like to pick ourselves apart like character traits in dating ads. We think that there is black and there is white and there isn’t any room for grays. We can’t be happy if we’re sad. We can’t be strong if we’ve broken. We can’t be proud if we’ve had to yank ourselves out of school and put our health first.

But that’s what you did, lady. You said, “I’ve got to get better. I’ve got to stick around. I’ve got to start demanding some sunlight when I throw open my curtains every morning.”

And I would hate for you to focus on the rain. I’d hate for you to worry about the snow.

I’m going to say this because I know it well: when we worry, when we’re anxious, when we’re depressed, it’s like we’d rather sit up and see the darkness than wish for light. It’s like we’re afraid to want something better because if we don’t get it, if better doesn’t shine so brightly, we’ll feel worse.

But life is all risk and reward. It’s leaping into the light expecting your shadow not to cover it. It’s thinking about how much lay ahead, how much you have yet to just relish for a couple decades. How many memories you’ve yet to dwell on.

I hope you find the good. I hope you remember the bad and let it make you stronger and I hope you never ever let anyone make you feel bad for putting your health first.

Stay tough. Stay caring. High school is just the beginning. There will be great and mighty big days ahead. And you will smile again. Oh, how you’ll smile.

With Hope & Love,
Kaleigh

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By the way, every month I send out a short + sweet newsletter brimming with cool finds related to the monthly theme. It'd be stellar if you subscribed. If it's not worthy, it doesn't go in the newsletter. That. Simple.

The Girl Who Saved The Postal Service

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packaged letters bundle

via weheartit.com

The moment she heard the news, she ran outside and got into her car.

She drove the thirteen miles to the nearest Target, slammed the driver’s side door shut, and raced inside.

Grabbed a red plastic basket — she was going to need it.

It wasn’t until she reached the stationery section that she broke down and cried.

A young mother with an antsy toddler in the front seat of plastic carts slowed her steps to raise an eyebrow at the girl on hands and knees, scooping packs of blank note cards into her basket.

She filled it to the brim with all the supplies she needed to fight the system: packs of pens, blank invitations and thank-you notes, note cards and envelopes.

The cashier at the checkout counter, a sweet old man with the smile the size of Kentucky, scanned each item and placed them gingerly in the bag.

“You heard what they’re saying on the television, right?” he said. “About the postal service?”

“I heard.” She bounced up and down on her heels, rubbed her hands over her biceps. “Uh huh. I heard.”

“It’s not gonna shut down right now,” he assured her. “Been around since the country’s founding and it’s not going anywhere.”

She ignored this.

“I figure if I send at least fifty letters to fifty people, and those fifty people send fifty letters, that’s already thousands of letters in the mail. That’s already thousands of people having a conversation.”

“You kids these days.” He laughed and handed her a receipt. “You think you can just do something small and it’s going to matter to the higher-ups. The government’s a big mess. A big self-centered mess.”

“I don’t think so,” she said. “All those government people, they all have family too.”

He handed her one of the bags.

“So they want to keep in touch with their families. They want to get a handwritten note still on their birthdays.”

“Honey,” he said. “My family stopped sending me birthday cards almost 50 years ago.”

“What’s your name?”

She reached into her bag and pulled out a sticky note pad and a pen.

He tapped his nametag. Carl. New Team Member etched underneath.

“Well, Carl New Team Member, I’m going to add you to my list.”

“Don’t do me any favors,” he said.

“I’m not. I think you know 50 people who want a letter. I think you can save the postal service.”

And then she exited the store, hauling her bags to the car.

It was raining outside when she got back to her house. She darted to the front door, juggled her house keys and slipped inside.

Then she sat down, wrote straight through the night.

When her wrist ached and her eyes closed, she thought about the generation after her. The generation dedicated to text messages deleted every two years when they traded in for new phones. She thought about her own pile of letters, crumpled and stained at the bottom of her desk drawer.

She could smell the parchment, feel the pages beneath her fingertips. She didn’t know what would happen if she didn’t have that.

She waited until the sun came up before she walked the mile to her driveway and stuffed the mailbox full. She raised the red flag on the side and waited, dazed, worried the mailman wouldn’t come. 

–

Hannah Brencher believes the world needs more love letters. Don’t let this beautiful project die because Congress won’t bail out the postal service. Write a handwritten note today.

By the way, every month I send out a short + sweet newsletter brimming with cool finds related to the monthly theme. It'd be stellar if you subscribed. If it's not worthy, it doesn't go in the newsletter. That. Simple.

August Discoveries

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It’s that time of the month again. And I was blown away by August. Really, just mystified by all the beautiful things it sent sailing my way. So I hope you all can appreciate and relish in this list.

[If you missed my previous discoveries, find them here.]

More Love Letters. The oh-so-awesome Hannah Katy Brencher launched her love letters site earlier this month. If you are a talented writing fiend with a knack for making someone feel special and worthy of praise, head your little butt over there and sign up to receive love letter alerts. She’s bringing the handwritten note back to us, baby. And if you need a little uplifting or just a note of encouragement, request a letter.

Get Milkshake. I just signed up a week ago, but I am sure this newsletter will become my No. 1 source of all things GOOD (besides GOOD.is, of course). From eateries to clothing to going ‘green,’ this is your daily dose of companies and individuals doing something wonderful with their lives.

Zen at Play’s 23 Things. Not sure how I wasn’t a Zen At Play lover until now; it’s a shame, really. Get on over there and download the free e-book. What 23 things do you not know about yourself but are ready to discover? Only the e-book will tell.

Tara Sophia Mohr. If you like free stuff and worksheets, go to her website, click on the resources tab, and start some serious self-discovery. I recommend the 10 Rules for Brilliant Women workbook. Start asking yourself the tough questions, kids. Come on, now.

NateStPierre.me. He’s done it. The founder of ItStartsWithUs launched his own — finally — website. No ties to any organizations or crazy inspirational business plans. Just Nate, this cool guy who blogs and tweets and (just so you know) enjoys Betty Crocker boxed brownie mix. He’s real and his blog is minimalist and all about the writing.

Kristie Colon’s ‘Why I Love Social Media’. It’s not a terribly long list, but it hits all my reasons right on the head. A resounding chorus for the introverts of the world and the rest of you who just like to dig deep and connect and engage and ohmygosh I’m getting carried away with my social media love.

Pie for Mikey. I love peanut butter. I love chocolate. I love ice cream. The food bloggers of the world united this month when one of their own lost her husband, Mikey. Hundreds of them baked peanut butter pie in his honor this month. Talk about a beautiful tribute.

We Stop Hate. I hope I start an anti-bullying nonprofit when I’m 17-years-old. Oh, wait, that already passed. This girl blows my mind with her passion and determination to end teenage bullying — online and in-person. And she’s selling bracelets and t-shirts, which I almost definitely have to buy.

Wear You Live. This Kickstarter project prints an image of your major metropolitan area on a t-shirt. The funding ended this morning. Oh, and they sell prints and throw pillows, too? How cute. The premise is that people will want to talk about where they live and they’ll get involved in the local community.

And of course, if you have awesome August finds, leave ‘em in the comments section below. :)

By the way, every month I send out a short + sweet newsletter brimming with cool finds related to the monthly theme. It'd be stellar if you subscribed. If it's not worthy, it doesn't go in the newsletter. That. Simple.