Campers can use letter-writing to strengthen their connection to home
In this post-truth era of AI-generated text and images, it seems quaint to consider the beauty of handwritten letters. But just as film photography is experiencing a renaissance, so are handwritten letters, especially among young people.
Just recently, a student at the secondary school where I work told me she had given her new boyfriend a second chance “because he took the time to write me a handwritten letter.” When I asked what was special about “the time,” she identified the crux of what is missing from hasty texts and synthetic messages: “When you handwrite something, there’s no delete key, no auto-filled words, so I knew he had thought about what he wanted to say. I knew he cared about me … about our relationship.” Indeed, handwritten letters of any length require a human investment in relationships that electronic communication cannot authentically replicate.
