In Praise of Handwritten Notes

Glance inside the window of Naco Gallery Café, a cosy watering hole nestled in the Little Portugal stretch of Dundas St. W., and you might just see a group of patrons, drink in one hand, pen in the other.

Lined notepads, construction paper folded into cards, coloured pens, even mini paint palettes take their place alongside gin cocktails and glasses of wine on checkered tabletops every other Monday night during the meeting of The Post a Letter Social Activity Club, where the only membership requirement is a love of the handwritten note.

Today they are increasingly tapped out through cellphones and keyboards — fleeting, informal, destined to be consigned to the digital recycle bin, the scrap heap of history.

But there are still those who regard the handwritten note as different: It is more than the sum of its words.

There’s the tactile experience — knowing the note was touched by the sender can be intimate and comforting, bridging distance. And it shows the thought and care that went into the note.

«You are choosing how it looks, how it feels and the physicality of it — from the texture, the size, the envelope and the stamp you put on it,» says Angel Chen, the 24-year-old Toronto illustrator and graphic designer who founded the Post a Letter Social Activity Club. «The form in which something is communicated is intrinsic to what is being communicated.»

The Post A Letter Social Activity Club monthly gathering

A handwritten letter brings with it an element of surprise — the thunk of correspondence coming through the mailbox usually signifies an avalanche of flyers, bills, election pamphlets, and requests from charitable organizations.

But an envelope with a handwritten address is rare, beckoning the recipient to open it immediately. «It’s the unexpected,» says Leah Gold, a 27-year-old early educator.

Then there’s the handwriting itself, as unique as an individual’s voice.

Perhaps most importantly, letter writing by hand discourages editing, deleting, restructuring and rephrasing. Once it’s down, it’s likely to remain. «You have to be more thoughtful, because you can’t erase,» says Gina Pappano, 40. «Sometimes I have to scratch out a word because I’d misspelled it. So you turn it into a little heart, or detail.»

Source: thestar.com