Friday 31 August 2007

why am i doing this again?

So, I'm only one week into this and already I'm having doubts. I had a moment of clarity, or crisis, depending on how you want to look at it, when I remembered why I stopped writing letters all those years ago. Even back then, in the time before email and mobile phones, I stopped writing letters because hardly anyone wrote back. People loved receiving letters, but weren't as willing to put pen to paper to reply. I remembered that old feeling of chronic disappointment so clearly this week it made me wonder why I want to make the effort to write all these letters. Surely now, in the age of abrupt and often abbreviated, acronymical e-communication, there will be even less of a chance of people responding?

Also, good correspondence isn't something that can be forced. True, someone has to start it, and it does take two people to keep it going, but it can't be forced. And maybe this project is just a bit too much like forcing. Also, truly good correspondence is rare. So maybe sending 100 letters will be the equivalent of shooting myself in the foot maybe 96 times.

Hence I'm not sure if I will carry on with this, or carry on in a modified format.

We'll see.

If anyone can think of good reasons to carry on, then that might help.

Wednesday 22 August 2007

No. 2

















Sent: 23.8.07

Notes: Receipt acknowledged and displayed on Envelope Collective website

Friday 17 August 2007

No. 1












Sent: 20.8.07, UK

Notes: Response received 12.9.07

Thursday 16 August 2007

the sort of rules

1. I will send 100 personal letters. I will try to do this over one year, but the time limit is not as important as sending the letters.

2. Birthday cards and other greetings cards that I'd normally send out will not count towards the 100. Neither will anything official.

3. None of the recipients' names or addresses will be posted on this site, except for the envelope collective, whose details are already public.