The Future of Encouragement: Letter-Writing + Clubhouse Wednesday, June 30, 2021

The Buzz 1: “There is a charm to letters and cards that emails and smses can’t ever replicate, you cannot inhale them, drawing the fragrance of the place they have been mailed from, the feel of paper in your hand bearing the weight of the words contained within. You cannot rub your fingers over the paper and visualise the sender, seated at a table, writing, perhaps with a smile on their lips or a frown splitting the brow.” (Kiran Manral, The Face at the Window) The Buzz 2: “I’ve seen teenagers, young adults and grandparents cry after receiving a letter. That's the power we all possess. That's why I speak on the subject of Encouragement through the art of writing letters.” (Alexey Katko, 1000LettersOfEncouragement.com) The earliest letter was sent around 500 BC by Queen Atossa of Persia. Although paper was invented in 105 A.D, it wasn’t until 1702 that it became cheap enough for people to afford it. On July 26, 1775, the US Post Office was created by the 2nd Continental Congress, to connect the people of America. At that time, it took 14 days for a letter to travel 100 miles. Now a letter from Hawaii to NY takes 3-7 days. Today, for $0.55 postage +$0.005 for paper + $0.15 for an envelope + $1 pen + 10 minutes of time, you can write a letter of encouragement and lift-up another person who can change the world around them. Letters remain a gem in human history. And new communication platforms like Clubhouse also help people connect to share meaningful encouragement. We’ll ask Alexey Katko, Karen Gibson, MissG and Deslynn Jacquais for their take on The Future of Encouragement: Old-Fashioned Letter Writing & New-Media Clubhouse.