8-10-2008

Today, when communication in general is diminished, “real letters” are the equivalent of archaeological discoveries. With the increasing use of 3-mail and instant messaging, communications have lost a quality of depth and intimacy. Letters like you and I write are the stories of our souls. They can be read again and again and deeply pondered. I like to celebrate “the reading” of your letters slowly. It’s irreverent to read them fast.

I like to write these words slowly, too. There’s a time for quick communication, but a letter from the heart takes time. Time for the thought to go from my head to my heart and then through my arm and onto this pen and finally onto this page.

A letter bears its own copyright. It bears the dreams and yearnings, the gratitude and delight, that come from the heart of a newly published author. What a feast our letters are!

When we write with a caring heart, the words reach in and touch the deepest part of ourselves. They’re no longer cold and indifferent; they’re now infused with a life energy. They put us in touch with our feelings and that may bring forth a chuckle or a tear. They seem to dance on the page.

I sound like an “old timer” reminiscing about the “good ole days”, but I do miss the old days when there was more connection and less competition, more community and less isolation, more conversation and less TV and e-mail.

In listening to the news this morning, I kept hearing the word “crisis” used over and over again. But being an eternal optimist, I’m always looking for the pony. Well, I found it in an article in Time Magazine. (7-14-08) titled, “Ten Things You Can Like About $4 Gas.” It went on to say, “Beyond the agony at the pump, life is getting a little better in ways we may not be aware of.” The ten points are –
1. Globalized jobs return home
2. Sprawl stalls
3. Four-day workweeks
4. Less pollution
5. More frugality
6. Fewer traffic deaths
7. Cheaper insurance
8. Less Traffic
9. More cops on the beat
10. Less obesity

Sometimes it’s hard to find positive results of what is happening, but they’re always there, and those ten points are some I hadn’t though about. Perhaps the various crises that we see happening in our society today will help to speed up the radical changes that are so badly needed.