A couple of years back, I had a rather interesting conversation with an avid philatelist at the Manila Central Post Office. He was a man a bit past his mid years, who has spent decades (and probably a good fortune, too) on collecting stamps from all over the world.
At the time we met, I was dropping a few letters, while he was manning this stamp exhibit being held in the lobby of the post office. Sitting on a plastic stool, a small, rickety wooden table in front of him, he’d take a few glances at the visitors, hoping they’d stay a little longer and approach him for a little chat. With just a handful of people stopping by to check out the displays, I could tell that he looked pretty bored – lonely even – so I went to him and said hi.
Of course, that simple hi turned into a conversation that will forever be one of my fondest post office memories. He spoke so passionately about his hobby and we spent hours talking about a myriad of things. From stamps, to pop culture, to politics, we just didn’t run out of things to say! But if there’s one thing I will never forget about our meeting, it would be the dread and sadness that crossed his face when he said that when former necessities like snail-mailing start to be considered “art” due to advancements and major breakthroughs in technology, it could be a prediction of its coming decline.
I had never thought of that before.
Today, mailing letters is seemingly treated more as “art” rather than a necessity. And honestly, I don’t see why it wouldn’t be. With email, SMS, and instant messengers making things a lot more convenient and cost-efficient, older means of delivering messages is automatically considered a thing of the past that a lot may tend to call art.
Personally, I don’t really see anything seriously wrong with people considering snail-mailing art. It’s inevitable. I like to think that it’s just part of the cultural process. With time passing and the world changing, the idea of mailing letters is simply being rethought. In this case, it's somehow being rethought as art. And that’s good. I’d rather see a practice I enjoy turn into a form of art than go obsolete.
True enough, we can’t bring back the yesteryears and solely rely on mailing letters to send messages to loved ones and people we have to reach. That would be, above anything else, impractical. However, we can still keep the practice alive by keeping our local post offices busy and bustling with letters to send.
That said, I wish this blog encourages and inspires you to grab a pen, a sheet of paper or a postcard, and write someone special a letter to post every now and then. After all, no electronic messenger could ever beat the effort and sentiments immortalised in an actual signed, sealed, stamped, and delivered letter.
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