letters

“Have patience with everything that remains unsolved in your heart. Try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books written in a foreign language. Do not now look for the answers. They cannot now be given to you because you could not live them. It is a question of experiencing everything. At present you need to live the question. Perhaps you will gradually, without even noticing it, find yourself experiencing the answer, some distant day."

~ Rainer Maria Rilke from Letters to a Young Poet

I can't remember the last time I wrote a letter to someone, especially a heart-felt, inspiring letter. Oh sure, I type out quick emails to friends letting them know I'm thinking about them, but I don't usually bother with punctuation or capitalizing or anything grammatical. I also send out thank you cards, which for the most part I'm very prompt about doing, even if they are the typical, generic canned responses. Not to say that it doesn't come from the heart because it does and I'm very grateful, but I'll admit they lack much creativity.

So, in honor of National Letter Writing Week, which begins on Sunday, I'm gathering my writing supplies and writing a letter every day next week. I'm not sure who I'm going to write to or what I'm going to say, all I know is that I'm going to do it.

And for anyone who wants to join in on the letter writing fun, I'll be sharing some pretty letter writing supplies and inspiration for you. Here's some great Chicago postcards for those who just want to send a quick note.

Screen Printed Chicago Skyline Postcards via justinnardy

Chicago City Silk Screened Post Cards via gigart

Windy City - Chicago art cards via Allegra Shunk

And here's a fun idea- if you'd like a letter written to you from me, then email me your address.