Connecting

I found these cute notecards in the $1 section at Target today, and they inspired me.  

Do you know what I love to do more than almost anything?  I LOVE to write letters.  I love the way it feels to actually WRITE...like with a pen on a piece of pretty paper.  I love the way it looks to address an envelope with my name and the name of someone I love on it.  I love the way it can instantly connect people who haven't communicated in way too long.  And I love the anticipation of dropping a letter in the mailbox and knowing that in a couple of days someone will smile when they read it.  

I wrote a couple of love notes today.  

One was to a sweet woman who I instantly connected with a couple of years ago.  I've written about Pat before.  She is older than me, just by enough to make her wise and wonderful.  I saw her speak a few times in some church meetings and something crazy compelled me to go up and talk to her.  We've been friends ever since.  And it's been a really long time since we've had the opportunity to connect.  She crossed my mind today, and I missed her, so I decided to write a note and tell her that.  

The other was to someone I haven't talked to in months who I'm not sure wants to talk to me at all.  But she was one of those people who lingered in my head for way too long today, so I had to do something about it.  I sent an email to her, instead of a fluffy pink note.  Hopefully, that will turn out to be a good idea and not one that I regret.     

I miss people a lot sometimes.  I have a small handful of great friends here.  But every now and then someone that I knew years ago will come into my thoughts and I can't get them out.  I miss family.  I miss friends that I've made in all the places we no longer live.  And when I think about people that much, I always want them to know.  I wish more people wrote letters.  I wish they craved connection like I do.  I always think it's so crazy that technology gives us the ability to connect so quickly and often, but we still don't do it.  Maybe it's just me...

"In our day, it is easy to pretend to spend time with others.  With the click of a mouse, we can "connect" with thousands of "friends" without ever having to face a single one of them.  Technology can be a wonderful thing, and is very useful when we cannot be near our loved ones.  However, I believe that we are not headed in the right direction, individually and as a society, when we connect with family or friends mostly by reposting humorous pictures, forwarding trivial things, or linking our loved ones to sites on the internet.  I suppose there is a place for this kind of activity, but how much time are we willing to spend on it?  If we fail to give our best personal self and undivided time to those who are truly important to us, one day we will regret it."  - Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Of Regrets and Resolutions, General Conference October 2012

You should connect with someone today.  Pick up the phone, send a lovey dovey text, or better yet...write a letter.  I'm pretty sure someone will love it.  :)