thoughts on love letters

with valentines suddenly looming ahead of us (is it really that time of year again? it feels like we only just had last valentines!) we got to thinking about how a holiday that celebrates love should be about letting everyone we love – not just our lovers or secret crushes – know how we feel about them. and, as much as we're huge fans of the internet, we can’t think of a better way of telling someone just how fantastically out-of-this-world we think they are than a good old fashioned love letter. of course, there are a number of factors that will up the success rate of your love letter – you can’t just go scrawling it on refill and shoving it in an old bank statement envelope before thrusting it in front of the recipient muttering “here! this is for you” with a scowl on your face. you need to treat and present it with all the love you want it to express. so (thanks to an extended amount of time walking around thinking about just what kind of a love letter we would like to receive ... and we really would like to receive one. please.) here are some of our ideas on just what will win you the “best person of the year” award in someone you love’s books: - first up, you’re going to need to consider who exactly you’re writing to. as we already mentioned, we’re being very liberal with the meaning of the term “love letter” so go ahead and write one for your best friend, for your grandma or for your little brother. just be sure to adjust everything to suit (we don’t think you need to be giving your granny a love letter telling her how hot you think her ass is. for example). - which brings us to choosing the words you’re going to use. we’d suggest thinking about what it is that you really love about the person and them alone and then writing it down. easy peasy. - finally – and this aspect is NOT to be underestimated – you’re going to have to think about presentation. you’ll have to choose stationery that will be special to the person, find a nice pen to write it in, and anything else you might want to adorn your love letter with. go crazy. use stickers, stamps, wax seals, collage … whatever takes your fancy. what’s important is that it’s personal. and, just like that, you’ll have a love letter that will truly make the day of the person receiving it. the thing to remember in the whole process is that it’s the entire experience of receiving a love letter that counts – the surprise of it, opening the gorgeous envelope, reading the hand-written words telling you why you’re fab and that warm fuzzy feeling of knowing someone cares so much about you. if you stick to the "treat others as you would like to be" rule you can’t really go wrong – just give them something that, in their shoes, you would love to receive. and, hey, who knows, you might just get one back …

xxx