"Letter writing is the only device for combining solitude with good company."
Lord Byron
Isn't that true ? Even more so with blogging. I can write and post a blog (letter) any time I am home and my computer is functioning and send it out by touching my keyboard. My e-letter goes all over the world and some people actually read it ! Sometimes they respond..oh joy ! This is like having pen pals, only I do not need to go to the post office to send and receive letters.
I used to write a LOT of letters. I was an Army brat and we wrote letters all the time. My mother was very good at keeping in touch with our Father who did 2 tours in Vietnam, plus keeping in touch with all the friends and family we had moved away from,courtesy of the U.S. Army. I also had pen pals.
When I married, I still kept in touch with my friends living in other states. I wrote all my relatives and Hubby's relatives. I enjoyed writing all these people and they wrote letters back to me. They wrote about themselves, their families, their dreams, etc., I love writing letters and sometimes felt guilty about time spent writing letters because I enjoyed it !
Our daughter spent 6 months in Australia and she wrote us regularly, and we wrote her back. This was before we had e-mail, and the phone was way too expensive a means of communication.......and I loved those letters. I cherish those letters. Our daughter is gifted in communication, especially written communication. Her letters would have us laughing and feeling good after we read them. If the phone had been our basic means of communication I am not sure we would have received as much pleasure from it. And we cannot share the phone call with the extended family who was interested in our daughter...sure, we could convey the gist of the call, but her words ? Her real take on life there , way across the globe ?
Over the years our letter writing relatives died of old age. The family and friends we try to keep in touch with do not seem to write letters. I hate the phone and consider it a necessary evil and appreciate the availability the phone affords...but not as the best way of communication. I like one to one , face to face interaction.....and I like to read heart felt letters. Our friends and family kept telling us if we joined the 'modern age' of technology we could e-mail. We could keep in touch...yeah, right ! I am sorry, but forwards are not communication and keeping in touch. Sure, some are funny, and I enjoy forwards (well, some of them) but they are NOT keeping in touch, communicating, interacting....we joined the 'modern age' and many of our friends and family are still not really in touch. They don't communicate via e-mail, or letter writing..or by phone for that matter.
All this background to say, I blog to write letters for my family, friends, and possible pen pals around the world! I want my blog to be uplifting, informative, eclectic, and fun. I want my grandchildren and family and friends to be able to read my blog and see what's going on...and I want to blog in such a way that I need never be ashamed of what I say. My faith is my life. My faith (Christian) cannot be separated from any part of my life. My (and Hubby's) view is never separate from our faith....Jesus is Lord !
"Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting; to eat, to drink and enjoy oneself in all one's labors in which he toils under the sun during the few years of life which God has given him; for this is his reward." Ecclesiastes 5:18
"The age of technology has both revived the use of writing and provided ever more reasons for it's spiritual solace. E-mails are letters, after all, more lasting than phone calls, even if many of them R cursory 4 U. " Anna Quindlan
