Empty letters
"I'm writing again
These letters to you aren't much I know
But I'm not sleeping and, you're not here..."
These letters to you aren't much I know
But I'm not sleeping and, you're not here..."
[Finch - Letters To You]
I remember when I first got an internet connection, I would eventually get some "friends" with whom I'd exchange e-mails. Everyday or once a week but on some kinda regular basis. Write about the subject for their website, music, movies, life, randomness or about anything else. Sometimes short notes because there wasn't enough time for the long letters even though those have always been my favourite. Because you get to know more than what the words actually say this way, as the way people write shows a lot and makes you get a more accurate view of them, somehow.
After some time, emails became more rare as I got caught into the chatting habit. It's fascinating at first, how a few words you type can travel all the way around the world in less than a second. You build in a way of conversing without speaking. A brand new communication way right down your fingertips. Making new friends through serious talks, running jokes, both or more. Chatting took over exchanging e-mails fast enough and for a long time, because it felt closer and less formal.
Until a few month ago when a chat friend actually started sending me e-mails. Not the short less than informative kind but the long, well-thought and time-consuming sort. Everyday. Which I honoured with long replies just like in the good old days. And strangely enough, it felt like the best way to communicate then. Because it's actually a very nice way to get to know people.
But best things end fast. Real life takes over and the whole communication is thrown to the background. A scary fact now : I get about 30 e-mails a day, about 40% of it stands as newsletters, 59% as spam [blame me for keeping the same e-mail address for many years], which leaves 1% to real mail. Though I pretty much believe even one percent is exaggerating. Where are all the writers gone to?
> Chatting? Not quite likely as far as I can see.
> Offline? I guess some people can win over the addiction better than I.
> Blogging? Sometimes it seems like blogs are open letters to the world, therefor to the couple of friends that read the entries on a regular basis.
I miss my email buddies, I miss my chat mates but I do hope they're fine whatever they're doing out there wherever they are.
After some time, emails became more rare as I got caught into the chatting habit. It's fascinating at first, how a few words you type can travel all the way around the world in less than a second. You build in a way of conversing without speaking. A brand new communication way right down your fingertips. Making new friends through serious talks, running jokes, both or more. Chatting took over exchanging e-mails fast enough and for a long time, because it felt closer and less formal.
Until a few month ago when a chat friend actually started sending me e-mails. Not the short less than informative kind but the long, well-thought and time-consuming sort. Everyday. Which I honoured with long replies just like in the good old days. And strangely enough, it felt like the best way to communicate then. Because it's actually a very nice way to get to know people.
But best things end fast. Real life takes over and the whole communication is thrown to the background. A scary fact now : I get about 30 e-mails a day, about 40% of it stands as newsletters, 59% as spam [blame me for keeping the same e-mail address for many years], which leaves 1% to real mail. Though I pretty much believe even one percent is exaggerating. Where are all the writers gone to?
> Chatting? Not quite likely as far as I can see.
> Offline? I guess some people can win over the addiction better than I.
> Blogging? Sometimes it seems like blogs are open letters to the world, therefor to the couple of friends that read the entries on a regular basis.
I miss my email buddies, I miss my chat mates but I do hope they're fine whatever they're doing out there wherever they are.
I just proved the blog = open letter to the world theory, didn't I?
posted by silent_genius at 10:34 PM
1 Comments:
Same story everytime. No one can keep regular email-contact on a daily basis, especially if it's long emails. That's why I love "real" mail. Letters are just so much slower. Which is good in two ways (at least): First, you get more time to look forward to the next letter arriving. Second, you don't have to hush answering. It'll take one or two days to arrive anyway, so why the hurry?
But otherwise, I can totally see your point. Sad things happen... I'd like to say goodbye to everyone I lost contact with - email or whatsoever. Too bad, and hey - I miss you (well, some of you at least ;-)
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