There is a dying art, that it would appear is facing us, and that is the art of language. Specifically, the art of writing letters. Using words to invoke emotion (of any kind), and arguably even change the course of history for instance, is something I see little of discussed in the modern day.

Letters are foundational to much of our history, stories, politics, and arguably even what it means to be human. Take the letters written by early philosophers for example; keys to helping those who received them understand themselves and find comfort in the words contained within.

Looking even further back, symbols and drawings carved into rock are all that remains of our earliest history, even if we don’t have the tools to understand or interpret them. I’m not sure why I’m taking an interest in this subject now, but I’m aware that it’s perhaps one of the only ways I can make a difference, to those around me, and to those that I have yet to meet.

How will the letters I write be helpful? By writing them; to myself at first, and to others in time. They may be thought of as essays, or even the ramblings of incoherent thought, but I think anyone that underestimates their importance, will be misguided. I want the record to show that the people of our time were distracted, mis-informed, confused, scared, and alone. Increasingly adrift and isolated, yet living in a world that’s connected like never before.

There can be no doubt that the internet, and the rise of instant messaging has saved countless lives in times of need; indeed, using analytics & data to save lives before disaster even occurs. Additionally, it has allowed for people to be held accountable for actions that would have in the past gone unnoticed by the large majority of people, the murder of George Floyd one such example (a pivotal moment in human history no less).

But in the case of letters, I’m not all that sure it’s been a force for good. It feels like we celebrate and revere the letters written by say Emily Dickinson or Alexander Hamilton, but I can’t think of any modern examples of powerful letters, or indeed even any modern letters at all. The rise of what I would describe as “the demand for immediacy” has meant we’ve neglected the effort and discomfort required to explore our own feelings, or put words down onto paper in any more than 140 characters.

Writing takes effort, as does creating anything unique. I suspect that this is why journalists, and authors of modern stories fear AI & LLM’s the most, because you can no longer publish any old nonsense and have people buy it. If you revere your craft, and continue to practice with dedication your ability to produce something truly your own, then you have nothing to fear.

At the very least, imagine taking the time out of your day to write a letter to someone you admire deeply. People will fall in love with your words long before they’ll ever fall in love with your face when swiping through Tinder.

Even if you can’t stop a war, you will always be able to stop time; over, and over again.