Day 2 - 198 -- Changing Communication

While talking on the phone today, I noted that I didn't call as often as I thought of the person at the other end -- nor do I correspond by paper or e-mail notes well. Life seems to speed up and trying to find the time to write a simple note or pick up the phone just doesn't seem to occur. I often find that I have the time to commit to a call and then I notice that it is after bedtime for many people. One does need to be more purposive in this process it seems. We also chatted about how the next generation seems to keep in touch better through technological means -- texting, Skype or FaceTime and such, and social media are used often with occasional phone calls and rarer e-mails. Technology is helping many people to keep in touch with friends from school and for those older people, it is helping us to reconnect with people after many years of being out of touch. With the impending loss of delivery to individual houses, postal missives may become even less common.

I admit that I feel let down when there isn't any 'real' mail in the box -- and bills don't count <smile> though there are fewer of those as things switch over to paperless billing. The art of writing a thank you card, birthday or celebration card, sympathy card or a plain old-fashioned letter seems to be disappearing. The package of letters from home or a romance saved in pretty boxes seems positively Victorian, well maybe Edwardian -- but it is seen as something great-great-grandparents did. While studying some of Florence Nightingales personal papers, her letters to friends and family in England were keys into her mindset and personality. Had someone not saved these, the world would not understand well her life or social situations of the times. Archivists may need to move further into ways of keeping the ever-changing file formats to hang onto the e-musings of people, though many of these will simply be lost. We don't seem to keep large files of old e-mails. Letters and cards are a bit more durable and if kept in drawers or boxes away from uv light, they have greater chances of survival than electronic notes. It may be a major loss of future historians.

The selection today deals with postal correspondence -- letters that carried mundane and important messages. I chose this song for its ability to show the importance of a single letter to communicate a personal and life-changing message. There have been many covers since the original version. The artist singing here gave a different tone to the original with the gravelly, almost bluesy voice. Enjoy!

The Letter -- Joe Cocker