I am by no means an extravagant blogger; I can barely navigate my own site. Heck, I have to ‘control-click’ every other word while writing and I use dictionary.com for the ones I’ve never heard of but sound fitting. But I do think I enjoy writing (Though the quality of it has little to do with this). I’m not an avid reader, which doesn’t stop me from the occasional purchase of a book in hopes that I will take up this hobby, but I think that is what I owe my poor spelling and vocabulary to.
I have always been a fan of conversations, but writing, and to take it a step further, composing a letter- that is a completely different ball game, an art I will never cease to love; the unique hand-writing, the crisp, crinkled, or weathered paper and the colorful stamp. It’s strange how this wafer-thin piece of cardboard has the ability to turn any one person into a captivating poet, carry an indescribable feeling in each word, or arrive at just the right moment. I have often surprised myself or been surprised by the string of words on a seemingly ordinary piece of paper.
Maybe it’s because there’s more time to think, put thoughts into real words, rather than let stuttered slang just fall out in the silences between counters. Or maybe an unwritten conversation is accompanied with multiple tasks that don’t enable the respondent to fully take in every word, the surroundings, background information, etc in order to create a top-shelf reply. Even still I find that with writing a letter, I could always find more to say if I really wanted, but I’m not sure that I have left a letter thinking that what I said wasn’t sufficient enough. For me there is a different sense of finality that comes in a letter that I find peaceful. It doesn’t have to go on; you get to decide what timeline each letter has and sign off at the end of the page. It’s complete, it’s whole. It doesn’t mean you can’t ever talk about the subject again or that there’s nothing left to say, but anything said outside of the letter is a new conversation. That’s beautiful! And then, one of the loveliest parts of it all, it pops up in a mailbox to someone else’s surprise.
Actually, maybe this is what makes letters so special. No one is like the other, each going on their own journey to their destination, each carrying a new set of words, each capturing a specific perspective of that date and time. Or maybe each contains a snippet, no matter how large or small, of the writer’s heart. Whatever it may be, letter writing is a wizard of its own kind, pouring its spells, pixy dust, and even curses on those who find them.
My purpose for rummaging through the art of letter writing is to say that I’m going to write my blog as though I am writing a collection of letters. Even though these letters will lack the physical qualities that I adore so much, they will not lack in content or familiarity. I am not going to pretend that I am some amazing writer set out to write a prestigious blog about a dazzling trip abroad.
I just wanted to say that I am writing this blog for fun, it will be written in letter format, and p.s. I’m foreshadowing that a constant theme will be centered around l’arte d’arrangiarsi (I’ll explain more later).
Love, hugs, and kisses
Riley Makenna
Compass 