Travels and Letters

DNortonLand was wandering around Athens and London last week and forgot to post updates. So expect awesome pictures/commentary on the Parthenon/London/the state of Europe/the meaning of Christmas over the next few days and weeks. If I can figure out how to upload the pix into the computer.

In other news...the letter project is completed! 2010's goal to write a letter each week to someone new (along with 2 more letters each month to the same people) was a complete success. In my mind at least. I ended up writing more letters than that, as I didn't really limit myself to just one letter per week sometimes, and I have DEFINITELY written more if you count all of the postcards that I have sent as a part of my travels.

In thinking what it means for a New Year's Resolution, though, I'm not sure what I gained out of this project (other than the chance to use old stationery and purchase some newer, more awesome stationery... and then use that, too).

I'm not sure if it improved my penmanship. I think my lines are straighter, but I'm not sure my handwriting is any more legible (or prettier for that matter--I've always liked my handwriting, but have never felt like it qualifies as 'pretty'. Unique, maybe. But 'pretty'? Not quite).

I'm also not sure if it actually improved my writing ability. I think it did, because I tend to take more care constructing sentences in my letters, since I know that I won't have the opportunity to correct a misinterpretation. At the same time, though, I highly doubt that it helped me improve my academic writing. I think I need a different resolution for that.

So...will I keep writing letters? I sure hope so. I've had a lot of fun this year, and everybody that I have talked to really liked getting a letter in the mail. Those reactions are priceless, and even better are the ones where people decided to write back, even though they really didn't need to. I think I would like to change it up in the coming year, though. Writing to a different person every week sometimes led to some really similar letters, as I felt that I had to introduce the project with every letter I wrote. I didn't have to do that with the letters that I sent to the same people every month, so I think that I am going to adjust the project to where I am writing to the same 4-6 people every month.

Also, Brother K and M just got me some gorgeous stationery, and I really want to use it.

Even though I know that you're really only supposed to make one New Year's Resolution in order for it to be completely effective, there are one or two more coming up on the horizon. So, I'm looking at the continuation of the letter project as just a continuation of a good habit, not as another resolution.