Why I write
I write because I like to. I like the process of finding the right postcard, I like the feel of the pen on the paper, the pen itself, and the process of forming letters. I don't always like my own handwriting, but I often like what I write and I often find out how I feel by writing spontaneously.
Last month on Facebook I posted an offer to my friends: the first fifty people who sent me their name and postal address would get a postcard from Paris. Thirty-five people signed up, seven of them from Paris! (The rest were from the US - Alabama, California, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont), from Europe (Belgium, Italy, Spain), the United Kingdom (London), South America (Bolivia), the United Arab Emirates (Dubai) and from India (Kerala and Rajastan) And so I bought souvenir postcards - ten each of five different views of Paris: two types of Sacré-Coeur, an aerial view of Paris, and two kinds of mixed-views showing the most-visited sites such as the Eiffel Tower and the Moulin Rouge. And I bought stamps, the prettier the better, and found that it costs 85 centimes to send a postcard in an envelope to India, for example. Yes - I decided to put the postcards in an envelope, French-style, which is more discreet.
One person asked why I was doing this. I pondered this question, and can only say that even though it sounds silly, I like the feeling I get when I mail a letter.
