Member-only story
I Believe in You
An old-school idea for the new world
You are awesome.
Do you need to hear this message? I do, over and over.
I doubt myself for a variety of reasons. I don’t conform to society’s ideal in many ways. I have two severe mental illnesses (and more that hover in the margins), I am disabled and becoming more so, I am female and overweight and growing old. There are so many reasons to stop trying.
It might help you to know that I have not stopped trying. I learn new things all the time and try to become a better person.
I’ve decided to write letters. It’s an old art, a throwback to a pre-digital world. I used to love writing letters, and receiving them, too. It’s a way of showing consideration to another person. You sat down and took the time to tell them something.
It’s an art form that doesn’t employ the sound-bite cleverness of Twitter posts or text messages. It’s personal and has depth and richness.
Here’s what is happening to me, and how I saw it happen. It’s a gift.
It says I believe in you. You are valuable to me, worthwhile because of who you are individually.
I don’t know if I can keep up the discipline, because it takes time: writing time, time finding a mailbox and a stamp. It’s inconvenient.
And that’s the point of it. The gift I give is my time and consideration. It’s like Christmas morning, finding a personal letter in your mailbox.
