Guilt, be gone!

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Historian Kerby Miller made a thought-provoking comment in an article I found in the Oct. 9, 2011, Press & Sun-Bulletin called  The Lost Art of the Letter

" Any subject that relies on correspondence - culture, manners, husbands and wives, lovers, friends, brothers, historical business, political history - could suffer a loss with the decline in letter-writing, Miller said.  

"Yet there could be some benefit, he said.

"Many of us used to always feel guilty because we never wrote enough....So maybe all the consequences aren't going to be completely negative. Maybe a vast load of guilt will be lifted from the shoulders of the American people."

I have to admit that too often I do feel a nasty bit of nagging guilt about not writing more. How counter-productive is that?! 

So, lest I have created a frenzy of guilt-induced letter writing, be assured that this blog is not intended to pile a "vast load of guilt" on our shoulders because we don't write enough letters. And, in my opinion, neither should we drop a guilt-bomb on our readers by concluding our letters with comments such as: "Write back soon!" or "Looking forward to hearing from you soon!" That lays an unnecessary burden on our recipients; it's like handing a gift to a friend and then saying, "Now I expect a gift in return."

So, guilt, be gone! Instead, as time and desire allow, let's savor the pleasure of loving our readers by putting pen to paper and adding a stamp.

If you would like to join me in making March Letter-Writing Month, just subscribe by email and you won't miss a pen stroke.