“You Won’t Last a Week”: On Handwriting Letters and Proving People Wrong

Over dinner, back in December, when I told two of my friends that my New Year’s resolution for 2025 was to handwrite a letter a day, they laughed. Not a polite chuckle. Not an “Oh, wow, that’s ambitious” smirk. No, they outright cackled like I had just announced I was moving to the woods to live off the grid and communicate solely by carrier pigeon.

“You’re crazy,” one of them said.

“You won’t last a week,” the other added.

I was shocked. Not because they doubted me—I mean, I once lived in a 90-square-foot apartment for five years; commitment is not my issue—but because their reaction told me a lot. And it wasn’t about me.

Their disbelief was about them. About how we’ve been conditioned to see letter writing as outdated, impractical, maybe even impossible. And they’re not alone.

A third friend—one who’s always been encouraging of my writing—paused for a second when I told her my plan. Then she said, “Wait, what? For a month?”

I laughed. “No, for the whole year.”

Silence on the other end of the phone. Meanwhile, people spend hours scrolling through their phones, falling into the social media abyss. In the time it takes to watch an Instagram reel of a kayaker being swallowed by a whale for the third time, I could write a letter.

And yet, skepticism about letter writing isn’t surprising. We live in a world where people don’t just not write letters—they actively forget it’s an option. A 2023 CBS News report found that most Americans haven’t written a personal letter on paper in over five years. Five years! That’s longer than some leftovers in an office fridge.

It gets worse: According to the same article, 37% of Americans say they haven’t handwritten a letter in over a decade. That means there are people walking around out there who haven’t felt the joy of putting pen to paper in ten years. Who haven’t received a heartfelt, handwritten note in the mail. Who haven’t known the thrill of opening an envelope that doesn’t contain a bill or or a 10% off coupon for a meal kit they forgot to cancel.

And that, dear reader, is exactly why I’m doing this.

The people who think I’m crazy for writing a letter every day in 2025 are the same people who think letter writing is too time-consuming, too tedious, too…something. But I’d argue it’s not that writing letters is hard—it’s just that we’ve forgotten how easy it actually is.

A letter doesn’t have to be a four-page poetic masterpiece. It doesn’t need perfect penmanship or carefully chosen stationery, it just has to be real. Honest. A few lines, a quick thought, a reminder to someone that they matter.

We text constantly. We email endlessly. We “like” things to show we care. But how often do we slow down, put actual words on paper, and send them out into the world?

So, here’s a challenge for you. Write one letter this week to someone about what you admire most about them and why. Just one. It can be short. It can be messy. It can be on the back of an old grocery list. But write it. Send it. And watch what happens.

Because in a world that moves fast, a letter is a pause. It’s a moment of thoughtfulness, of connection, of proof that someone took the time to say, Hey, I was thinking about you. And trust me—whoever receives it will feel that.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a letter to write. (Number 56 of the year!)

With ink-stained fingers and a heart full of stamps,

Felice

P.S. While some friends doubted my resolution, one friend had zero hesitation. She even designed these gorgeous pens that say “Love Letters.” If that’s not faith (or a clever way to keep me accountable), I don’t know what is. (Thank you, Serena Candiani!

SONG OF THE WEEK

The Letter by Natalie Merchant. Be warned, this one is a tearjerker.

Felice Cohen is an award-winning author, known nationally and internationally for living in one of the world’s smallest apartments. She wrote Half In: A Coming-of-Age Memoir of Forbidden Love (endorsed by Rita Mae Brown), 90 Lessons for Living Large in 90 Square Feet (...and More) (inspired by her viral YouTube video with 25M+ views), and What Papa Told Me (endorsed by Elie Wiesel). Felice is a sought-after speaker, inspiring others through her books and talks. Find her at felicecohen.com.