World Letter Writing Day Pt 1

On September 1st, people all over the globe celebrate World Letter Writing Day. Nowadays, letter writing is becoming a lost art. because instead people are communicating instantly with each other over email, text message, video chat or phone. World Letter Writing Day celebrates writing letters and encourages people everywhere to pick up a pen and simply write a letter!

There is something special and personal about receiving a handwritten letter from someone, especially when it is now rare.

Writing letters is a great activity for everyone, including seniors. When you write letters, it is an exercise for your brain! For example, letter writing requires using language skills. There are many facets of language that go into writing a letter, such as spelling, vocabulary, grammar, sentence and paragraph structure, punctuation, organization, and more! Writing also requires working memory, so every time you write a letter you help strengthen your memory.

Best of all, you can be creative when you write letters. The writing itself and penmanship allows for creativity, and you can draw your own pictures in the letter – something that you cannot quite do via email or text message and is unique to letter writing.

You also utilize fine motor skills when you write a letter. Holding a pen and jotting down the letters strengthens the small muscles in your hand and wrist and supports precise muscle memory and movements. Writing a letter on paper is easier on the eyes because you are not staring at a screen. For many older adults, writing letters can be simply less frustrating! This is because they may not be as familiar with new technology as younger folks, and letter writing is more straightforward – you do not have to worry if the internet connection is down in order to send your message, and you do not have to worry about accidentally sending it to the wrong email address.

Letters are essentially living history, with museums and historical societies filled with millions of letters written over the centuries. Rereading old letters can bring back good memories and a sense of nostalgia. Important or meaningful letters are saved as family heirlooms, such as those from a great grandfather and great uncle from WWII. Letter writing and reading can be especially enjoyable for seniors because it takes them back to a time when they were young and people wrote letters to each other.