Happy Letters are the cure for Social Distancing

Thanks to the novel coronavirus, we are all learning first-hand the meaning and challenges of “social distancing” and “shelter in place”. Living within these constraints requires a big adjusting to our lives, which will undoubtedly create stress and anxiety for many people.

Despite the disruption, these public health strategies are needed to protect sensitive members of our community and to prevent our hospitals and health care workers from being overloaded.

Stay Connected

To stay safe, we need to stay in our homes as much as possible and maintain a 6-foot distance from others when we need to be in public spaces. Even though we need to create physical distance from each other we can still stay connected to our friends and loved ones.

Now more than ever we need to remind each other that we are not alone! We are all dealing with concern and anxiety for the health and safety of our loved ones. So take some time to connect with someone in your life. Here are a few suggestions.

• Grab the phone and call up a friend or loved one to check-in and say hello! (This is a great way to connect with older members of our community that may not be as familiar with technology as others.)
• Send a quick text message to let someone know you are thinking about them. (It literally takes seconds to reconnect with an old friend and reassure them how much they are loved and appreciated.)
• Email a co-worker or colleague with some words of encouragement. (This is a quick and easy way to spread some joy and maintain working relationships.)
• Strike up a conversation with a neighbor from over the fenceline. (This is a great way to connect with a neighbor and to ensure that they are doing fine. These community connections spread comfort and resiliency!)
• Invite someone to join a virtual dinner party over your favorite video conferencing platform. (This is a fun way to spend some time together while still apart. Share a favorite recipe!)
• Share some words of encouragement over your favorite social media platform. (This is really needed right now! Spend a few minutes spreading some words of encouragement over your social network.)
• Last but not least…Send a Happy Letter! (Now is a perfect time to send a happy letter, with a few important modifications listed below!)

The NEW best practices for Happy Letters

Happy letters are a great way to bring some joy into someone’s life! Now more than ever we all could use a little joy! But with the threat of coronavirus, we need to be thoughtful about how we share our happy letters.

Be personal

We normally encourage happy letters to be anonymous. This practice is encouraged in part to create some wonder and mystery to our happy letters. But with the stress that people are already feeling, a letter from a stranger may spark even more anxiety.

Now more than ever we need to share a sense of community. So be yourself and share your happy letter openly with someone in your life. Let them know how much they are loved and appreciated!

Save a stamp

Traditionally, we have encouraged happy letters to be handwritten. We have promoted this practice so that people immediately know that their letter is unique and special. The last thing you want is a form letter, even if it is a happy one.

But with concerns about the spread of coronavirus and recent research that suggests that the coronavirus can remain viable on surfaces for a day or longer, sharing physical letters far and wide may not be the best idea.

Instead, we are encouraging folks to share their letters electronically via email, text, or social media. So trade that pen in for a keyboard, but take the time to personalize your letter and make it unique. You will not only save a stamp, but you may save a life.

Capture your Inspirations

Even though we are discouraging handwritten happy letters, you can still craft your own unique inserts and inspirations. These hand-crafted artworks are meant to bring joy to people’s hearts. So enjoy your time at home by creating, your own unique drawings. Then capture them with your phone or a digital camera and includes them in your text or email message. You can also share them with the Happy Letter Community page for inclusion on Happyletter.org.

Not feeling inspired? You can also use one of our community- submitted inspirations. They are already digitized and ready to be included in your next happy letter.

Share your Happy Letters.

When you send that happy letter, help inspire others by sharing!  Follow these three simple steps…

1. Send us a photo of your happy letter via our Happy Letter Facebook Community Page to share with others.
2. Provide an address, city, or map coordinates for your letter.
3. Your happy letter gets posted to the Happy Letter Community Map.
4. If you are posting to social media, you can also let us know by using #HappyLetter
5. Lastly, be sure to share a link to the happyletter.org insert to help inform your recipient about the happy letter.

Stay Home Stay Healthy

We want you to stay healthy! So please stay home and avoid crowds and gatherings. The more vigilant we can be to disrupt the spread of the coronavirus the happier we will be with the outcome.

Please join us in praying for healing and hope for our friends, our family, our nation, and our world. Be well!