What Writing Letters to Strangers for A Month Taught Me
This isn’t about romance — no dating apps were involved in the process.
The world has been increasingly connected nowadays that we seem to have forgotten what it is like to actually connect. And if we do want to connect with people we don’t necessarily know, we automatically associate it with the intention to build romance or land casual hookups. It’s as if the days of getting to know others without having any pre-determined goal have gone beyond us. Sometimes, I even think that we have purposely reset our systems into being emotionally unavailable by default that we end up not wanting to be associated with anyone unless we gain something solid out of it — love, friendship, professional advantages, you name it.
It’s like curiosity is not a thing anymore. So, with this realization, I decided to download this modern penpal app.
I started to write to some strangers from different parts of the world. Most importantly, I did not set any goal, except for the hopes that at least one of these people will have the same interests as me (and no creepy perverts!). My intro went like this:
“Hello, stranger. :)
I’m (my-random-screen-name) and I live in France, but I’m originally from the Philippines. More than a year ago, I came here to pursue a Master’s degree and to experience what it’s like to live in a truly authentic French city (so yeah, no, I’m not living in Paris).
Most importantly, why am I here?
To be honest, I really don’t know. Perhaps, I’m quite intrigued by the idea of having to write long messages and connect with people I would only know by their screen names and avatars. Perhaps, it’s the idea of enjoying pure conversations with someone from somewhere in the world. Perhaps, it’s the excitement of getting to truly know someone without prejudice. Or perhaps, it’s all of these.
Whatever the reason behind, I’m certain about one thing — I would like to have quality conversations with you.”
(There’s actually more, but I’m afraid it’s going to be too long for this post.)
The thing about this app is that messages are not instantly sent to the receiver. The time…
