As you know, I am a big fan of letter writing and receiving. I set out to write this post in honor of the week of Valentine’s Day, when a lot of people will be writing love letters to their favorite people.

After seeing the book, If you find this Letter pop up in my Instagram feed with a rave review, I ordered one for me and one for my pen pal and dear friend who lives on the east coast, whom I’ve been writing to for seven years. I just received the book this week and I’ve only read the first 20 pages or so, but already, I’m captivated by her story and obsessed with her mission. After moving to New York City and becoming overwhelmed with a feeling of loneliness, the author, Hannah Brencher, started leaving notes for people all over Manhattan.

“Her letters took on a life of their own when she put a promise on the internet: “If you need a letter in the mail today, I will write you one. No questions asked.” Overnight, her inbox exploded with requests…Letters to strangers became Hannah’s labor of love and they quickly  took on a life of their own, spreading into a worldwide phenomenon through the website she launched, The World Needs More Love Letters.”

Her website is fantastic. The landing page says,

“Our mission is simple: make love famous.”

There, you can find people to write to through letter requests and get ideas on how to leave a letter anonymously. Drop ’em like they’re hot… Here’s an example of one.

The other book in the cover photo above, Letters to my Future Self was a birthday gift from my lovely friend, V, who totally gets me. Inside this book are envelopes to place and seal letters you write to yourself. The envelopes have writing prompts on them, like, All the things I’d like to try someday, This is what I live for, It was an extraordinary day, I promise to myself, and has spots to mark the dates for when the note was sealed and when it should be opened. It’s like a letter-writing time capsule. I just wrote that and realized it says that very thing on the cover of the book (face palm). A paper time capsule. I’m excited to get started.

So, ever wonder how you can be the best part of someone’s day (including your own)?

Simple. Write a letter.

Cheering fiercely for you. Have an amazing day.

[bottom image via MLL]