Dear reader,

I’m 16, about to not do my GCSEs, and apart from the odd perfunctory thank-you note, I have never written a letter. Until now - amidst the dystopian, ever-advancing world of 2021, I seem to also be going back in time. Forget Snapchat streaks and Instagram followers, letter writing is the new teen craze. I don’t know if it’s the Bridgerton-effect - promenades in the park, corsets as fashion statements and voraciously reading Jane Austen - or maybe it’s just the fact that I’m so fed up with the erratic and apocalyptic modern-world, that I yearn for the simpler times of the eighteen hundreds, but I have fallen in love with letter writing. 

This infatuation started a week into Lockdown 3.0, when a handwritten letter (yes, a letter!?) slipped through the letterbox addressed to me. It was a two-page missive from one of my close friends filling me in, in a humorous, creative and informative fashion, rather than the monotony of four word sentences and endless voice memos. We as a generation have become so lazy, both physically and mentally, to the point where we abbreviate ‘would’ to ‘wld’ and ‘just’ simply to ‘j’. Letter writing gives us a reality check, and reminds us of social courtesy; no you can’t email your teacher or boss using ‘obvs’ and ‘ur’. 

I began playing letter tennis, my letter slipped through the glossy red postbox, another one landed on my doorstep. I developed a strong relationship with my postman (we’re on first name terms -  for those dying to know, he’s called Alex), who had letters for me every other day. Singles tennis soon became doubles, then triples, and quadruples (if they even exist). I was receiving and sending letters like it was going out of style. It was time for an investment in a letter writing kit. My name is Bee, so naturally, I found every piece of stationery with a bee on it - slightly narcissistic? Probably. I sprinkled glitter in the envelope (wasn’t too popular with my neat-freak friends), adorned the envelopes with Hello Kitty stickers - left over from my 7 year old self, and sprayed perfume on the card - yes Legally Blonde fans, you get the reference. Letter writing became a form of art, and a way to pass the time in lockdown. And I say, long may it last. 

Yours faithfully,

Bee 

P.S 

As author of To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee said, "Some things should happen on soft pages, not cold metal"