The World Needs Fewer Text Messages And More Love Letters

Have you ever sat and wondered how different your life may be without the bittersweet burden of technology? Maybe it would have taken a different turn with a former flame or maybe it would be more focused on a life goal. Maybe your life would simply just hold more meaning in the little every day occurrences that are often overlooked because we are too busy staring into our iPhones, trying to finger swipe our way into its high-tech soul, looking for it to somehow give us the answers we are searching for.

Yes, many careers have been started thanks to the era of social media and yes, I too am guilty of using the powers of technology for my future career because that is the way the world is changing these days and, unfortunately or fortunately, the world will change whether we like it to or not. But when the Macs are powered down and your office door is shut after a long work day, technology seems to still rule our personal lives. One part of everyday life that is crumbling steadily under the weight of technology these days is communication in relationships. “But wait!” you sit and think to yourself as you are reading this, “texting and social media networks allow me to communicate with my loved ones, and not so loved ones, instantly.”

Instantly.

Is “instantly” necessarily better? Instantly, to me, screams “easier”.

Texting is easy. Text-talk like “omg” and “bb” and “ur” is a slap in the face to language. The worst is “ILY.” ILY. Why couldn’t we just say “I love you”? If the feeling is so sincere, is spending your time on a few extra characters really so much harder? There are many adjectives that can be used to describe a soul-wrenching type of love but “lazy” should not be one of them. Communicating with someone you love about how you feel via text is lazy. If you love someone, you should call. You should write. You should knock on their door and tell them. Don’t rely on a text.

To be able to think and articulate a combination of 26 letters into thousands of words making up millions of sentences is a beautiful sensation, a literate miracle if you will. Today, writing a letter seems like an ancient act of love out of a Shakespeare play. Before Snapchat, before Man Crush Mondays and Woman Crush Wednesdays, or FaceTime, writing a letter or expressing your feelings face-to-face was the only way to show your love.

I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t want my love to be determined by a third-party technological device because last time I checked, love was between two people, not two people and an iPhone. Social media and technology are slowly killing our generation’s idea of love and lowering it to a standard that shouldn’t even be on its radar. If you love someone who lives far away or are even lucky enough to love someone 5 minutes away from you, write them a love letter. Use paper, use ink, but most importantly, use your words and your feelings and your emotion and your love.

This world needs a lot of things, but one of those things it needs more of is love letters.