Five years ago, fantasy author Mary Robinette Kowal started the Month of Letters Challenge. Here is how it works:
- In the month of February, mail at least one item through the post every day it runs. Write a postcard, a letter, send a picture, or a cutting from a newspaper, or a fabric swatch.
- Write back to everyone who writes to you. This can count as one of your mailed items.
All you are committing to is to mail 24 items. Why 24? There are four Sundays and one US holiday (plus Leap Day). In fact, you might send more than 24 items. You might develop a correspondence that extends beyond the month.
Write love letters, thank yous, or simply notes to say that you miss an old friend. Send a fabric swatch from your new dress. A feather you picked up while on a walk. Whatever it is, let yourself step away from the urgency of modern life and think about an audience of one. Think of it as sending 24 little gifts. And, who knows, you might enjoy going to the mail box again.
For Feb. 5, I found a new mailbox I hadn't used before, and I sent two pieces of mail:
- I wrote a long letter to a pen pal who is also participating in LetterMo this year.
- I sent a package with some small Bookcrossing-related gifts to a Bookcrosser in California whom I've never met but who sent me some gifts as part of the Holiday Gift-Giving project on Bookcrossing.