Twaddles

"There is only one situation that I can think of in which men and women make an effort to read better than they usually do. When they are in love and reading a love letter, they read for all they are worth. They read every word three ways; they read between the lines and in the margins... Then, if never before or after, they read."
- Mortimer J. Adler

In the (not even so very distant) past, letters were an art form. One picked the paper, wrote in ink, tried to write in a nice legible way, etc. But the 21st century has seen the decline of this art - killed by the phone and the internet. A phone conversation is different - it's more casual and interactive - but something is missing and when one hangs up it is gone!. The act of writing a letter forced one to think through ones thoughts, feelings and opinions, organise them, word them, write them out, make some time etc. Now with the net, we have sort of a rebirth of letters. It's not the same though! The artful penmanship is gone. Email is more casual, yes it is much faster and immediate, but definitely less impressive. Nevertheless I always love getting mail. It usually means someone's thinking about me, or has something to say, or sometimes it's just a pleasant distraction from the usual hectic pace of life - a bit of humour or a provocative thought...

Love is about the magic that inspires us all. The beautiful expressions that we send to each other to make each other feel special, appreciated and loved. And now as the postal systems get worse and worse and email takes over, great romantic correspondence will sadly become even harder and more rare. Now, in today's rushed society, the jaw-drop-to-the-floor-heart-melting love letters are as rare as hitting a jackpot in Las Vegas, as rare as a blizzard in the Sahara desert, as rare as a parking space down-town at noon on a weekday. Sighs. You get the point: rarity!

Most of the love letters are written in the first great flush of romance, so their theme is simple and predictable - 'I'm in love with you and only you. And I'm in love with you more than anyone has ever been in love with anyone else or will be again and I will love you forever.'  But in reality as nice as it sounds it is nothing but a superb empty boast and a defiance of common sense even, because no great love lasts at that level of intensity over years and years.

Shakespeare wrote that