Why Relationships Matter

Take our Can You Spot Red Flags In A Relationship?

Find a therapist to strengthen relationships

Only around one-third of Americans have sent handwritten letters in the past year.

Letter writing can help deepen relationships through shared vulnerability and intimacy.

Most people love receiving letters and report feeling closer to the sender as a result.

Less than one-third of Americans have written and sent an old-fashioned letter in the last year. I’m talking about taking out the stationery, writing “Dear So-and-So,” licking the envelope, putting a stamp in the corner, and placing it in the mailbox with the little red flag proudly raised.

I know I'm not the only one, but I took up letter writing this fall after reading (and falling in love with) Virginia Evans’s novel, The Correspondent. It features a less-than-perfect older protagonist who writes all sorts of correspondence for all sorts of reasons. I loved getting to know this woman through her letters and started wondering what legacy I will leave with only digital traces of my thoughts, feelings, and ideas.

So I drove to the local stationery store and purchased the fanciest stationery and most luxurious envelopes. I also bought a physical address book and started collecting mailing addresses of friends and family past and present. Then, I carved out a little time every week to think deeply about whoever I........

© Psychology Today