So, when I took the parcel I was going to send out for the first day of the 2016 A Month of Letters Challenge to the 
local post office, I was the 10th or 11th person in line. There was only one person working at the counter, and she was off in the back looking for something. After ten minutes where she was still helping the same customer as when I came in (and now there were three more people behind me, as well), I had to leave because my husband needed the car.
Not the best way to start off a challenge! But then – it’s a challenge, right? And it’s not like life or death, or failing if something doesn’t go out every day; no grading or judging. No pressure. Just fun! What the hey and a hoot and a holler! So I came home, printed out a favorite recipe for a friend I used to work with and with whom I now keep in touch with over social media, wrote her a little note along with the recipe, affixed a stamp to the envelope and walked it over to the local mail box on the street corner a block away. Voila! Day One, in the books! I wish I could see my friend’s face when the envelope lands on her desk in the next day or two. Hope it brings a smile!
But what about today’s parcel? Ah, yes! Now I’m looking at this parcel as a personal quest. How can I, a meek-mannered stay-at-home/semi-retired woman figure out how much it weighs and then how many stamps to affix to it to ensure it reaches its destination without any “insufficient postage” charges for the person on the other end (which would really kind of dampen the whole effort)? I certainly have plenty of stamps in the house from all those Christmas cards that I never got around to writing out or mailing. (Whoops!)
Figuring out the postage should be easy, because, well, Google. But weighing it? I don’t really have that sensitive of a scale just lying around… but there has to be some way. MacGyver certainly wouldn’t let something as simple as “no scale” stop him! Surely it can be done! I will find a way! (Or, I might just try the post office again tomorrow, when I don’t have the time constraints I had today…)
Anyway, the point is, the Month of Letter Challenge has just started up, and it can be as fun as you let it be – and it’s a heckuva great way to spread some tangible joy over the month of February. All you have to do is commit (such a hard word, commit – don’t let it scare you!) to sending out one letter or piece of personal mail (could be parcel, could be a postcard) for each day that the postal service is operational in February. That’s it! If you want, you can log into the Month of Letters website and interact with others taking the challenge – collect badges for your profile, get general pep talks throughout the month; be part of a larger movement. But that’s all up to you.
So why don’t you join with me in the 2016 Month of Letters challenge? Who cares if you start a day or two late? No big whoop! It’s all about spreading the love – as we’ve ALL got time for that!
C’mon! It’s gonna be fun.
~ Sharon Browning
