Does my note note have to be handwritten?
Heartspoken is more important than handwritten if you have to choose...
For hundreds of years, etiquette, custom, and sentimentality have called for a handwritten note in many situations. There is something so much more personal—more intimate—more special about going to the trouble to write something by hand, especially thank you notes and sympathy notes. The receivers of handwritten notes say they love just holding them, re-reading them, visualizing the act of the sender sitting down, thinking of them, and writing to them.
Getting a handwritten note is like getting a piece of the sender’s heart. We’re treading on sacred ground here.
But for every rule, there are exceptions, especially when the “rule” is keeping you from communicating at all! Maybe you just have a mental block and you don’t ever get around to all those steps: find a piece of paper, find a matching envelope, find a writing implement, find paper again because you put it down somewhere while you were looking for a writing implement. You get the picture.
And stamps? Who has time to go to the post office?
The computer’s right here and I can zap off an email in no time. I would always maintain that electronic communication is better than no communication at all.
Perhaps you have arthritis, a tremor, illegible handwriting, or an injury or other mobility impairment. Certainly, these are reasons for finding other ways to communicate, and your loved ones will understand. With programs such as Zoom and the various audio and video software and sites available today, you can see and talk to people in real time or personalize a recorded message with a computer and send it instantly.
Now there are even services that offer wonderful and time-saving options for mailed cards and notes that are very personalized, even to the point of appearing to be in your own handwriting. I’ve been experimenting with Send Out Cards and love its ability to send my heartspoken messages directly from my computer with lots of delightful ways to personalize and customize it. I can even send a gift along with the note! I’m so impressed that I’ve signed up as an affiliate. Here’s my link so you can try it for yourself: CLICK HERE.
[ I’ve shared many of these and other great note-writing sources in my book HEARTSOKEN: How to Write Notes that Connect, Comfort, Encourage, and Inspire. ]
Just don’t let yourself get distracted from the real purpose of any personal communication: to let someone know you care. Any way you can figure out how to do that is time well spent.
A note can be heartspoken without being handwritten.
This is so lovely to read. The PGA Tour had a special on today about Arnold Palmer called Sincerely, about all the letters he sent over the years. They talked to a lot of golfers and others whose lives he touched with letters. Letter-writing just showed the world how special he was.
Thank you for addressing this question today, Elizabeth. I much prefer sending handwritten notes, but I agree the most important thing is to communicate. After working for many years at a computer and only using my pen to scribble short notes to myself, I realized I had lost the callous I’d had on my finger since first grade and it became painful to hold a pen and write more than a few lines by hand.
There are times I’ll type a longer note when I have a lot to share, but luckily, I’m regaining the ability to write 98% of my notes. You’re absolutely right that it’s more special to receive handwritten correspondence, yet I’m grateful to have friends and family who don’t mind the occasional typed missive. I have a friend in Arkansas who always types her notes, but what she shares is so lovely, I’m just happy to hear from her.