Letters in lockdown 2020

Michele and Mary-Ann
Letter writing. 6th May 2020.

The country is in lockdown because of the threat of Corona Virus. Technology has become more important than ever for communication. Letter writing seems a thing of the past. The simple notion of a letter feels romantic. It is tangible, where email is not. A letter is creative, it involves thought and effort. Text in a letter is perhaps more intellectually considered, than a flash of text on a mobile phone.

There is pressure now in society that everything needs to be instant. Our sense of time has changed. Where we might have waited several days for the post to arrive, now we wait minutes for the response of an email or text.

There is an instantaneous gratification of receiving an instant message. Times have changed from lengthy letter-writing, where now spending lengthy hours of the day receiving and responding to communication -technology feels ultra-important. Technology is vital, almost compulsive, even seductive, where we have pressure to respond immediately.

And so, we turn to letter writing . It feels old. It feels sacred. I had forgotten the pleasure of writing. The letter; a snap-shot into something that feels meaningful. I can treasure the letter, equally I can throw it away. Either way, I have taken part in something very creative and very intimate from reader to reader.

The letters below are a response from the mundane of life in lockdown.