Welcome to Day 10 of the 2016 #sendcardsspreadlove Challenge for National Card & Letter Writing Month! We’re so excited and full of gratitude that you’ve joined us. As a reminder, make sure you sign up to receive all the info and special bonus content that won’t be shared on the blog.

If you’re just joining us, you can get all the important details here. AND don’t forget to check out Week 1 for a list of reasons to write and who to send a card to or even what type of card to send, plus tips for sustaining a letter writing habit.

Day 10 Of The 2016 #sendcardsspreadlove Challenge

Week 2 Challenge: Make New Friends But Keep the Old

This week’s challenge is to make a new friend and the prize is The Best of Collection. It’s the ultimate best of collection (ooh la la!) as determined by YOU, the subscribers and PbP community. To be eligible for the prize, share your card and/or note, tag both Christina and I on IG (@creativemercantile and @prettybypost) along with the week 2 challenge and the #sendcardsspreadlove hashtag by April 18th at 11:59 pm EST. All winners will be announced on May 4th via newsletter and/or IG.

We’re continuing the theme this week of making new friends (check out Josh’s amazing post on how writing and leaving letters for strangers helped him overcome depression) with our next guest blogger, Kara Benz from Boho Berry.

Christina, our challenge co-host, recommended that I check out Kara because she took part in a 29 day letter writing challenge. When I went to her blog, I was absolutely ECSTATIC to discover that not only is Kara a paper/planner/bullet journal woman after my own heart, but she also loves goal setting and personal development. And did I mention her bullet journals are to die for?! After quite some time reading through her blog posts, I emailed her to see if she’d share her InCoWriMo letter writing experience with us. And here she is today – lucky, lucky us!

A few months ago, I ventured into the wonderful world of handwritten letters. Knowing how much I loved to write in my Bullet Journal, I was searching for a way to connect more with others through the handwritten word.

I joined a pen pal group, signed up for a letter writing club, and stocked up on paper, envelopes, cards, wax seals, and all of the other fun goodies that come along with sending happy mail.

I knew that I was going to love the act of writing, but nothing prepared me for the sheer joy that I would feel when I opened my mailbox for the first time to see a hand-addressed envelope. Not a bill, not junk mail… but a real letter!

I was instantly hooked.

Not only did I enjoy the act of writing, but I enjoyed the excitement of going to my mailbox each day to see what goodies awaited me. Getting to know my pen pals through their words on paper was one of the highlights of my year.

[Tweet “I truly believe that magic happens when you put pen to paper @BohoBerry”]

There is something so personal and touching about not only the words on the page, but the fact that it takes time and great care to draft a letter to someone.

There are no emojis, no terms like LOL or OMG. Handwritten letters take on a quality of old-worldliness that brings us back to a simpler time. A time when communication had purpose.

In January, I heard about a little letter-writing challenge called InCoWriMo that takes place every February. InCoWriMo is short for International Correspondence Writing Month, and the challenge is simple but daunting. You commit to writing and mailing one letter per day during the entire month of February.

After I posted about the challenge on my blog, I started to receive letters and cards by the droves. To date, I’ve received over 100 letters from people all over the world. I’ve caught glimpses into the lives of so many, and I feel even more connected to them because they took the time to hand-write their thoughts, hopes, and dreams on the page.

Writing a letter each day during the month of February was a challenge. But it was a challenge that I happily accepted. I quickly created a spread in my Bullet Journal to track my progress, and dove in head first.

I dedicated a solid hour each morning to writing a new letter each day. I added a little fun to each one by decorating the outside of the envelopes. What could have been an overwhelming task turned into a labor of love, and I stayed motivated throughout the month by trying out new designs and patterns.

The experience of writing a letter each day for 29 days was one that I won’t soon forget. I’ll be taking up this challenge each year from now on, and I’m looking forward to improving my writing and lettering skills throughout the year as well.

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Isn’t Kara the best?! I could feel her joy and excitement coming off the page. Huge gratitude and thanks to Kara for sharing her InCoWriMo experience with us. As part of the Week 2 Challenge, we encourage you to join a group and connect with new people (check out our list for ideas here).

Do you think a letter writing group is for you? How do you think you’d measure up in the challenge? Let us know in the comments below.

You can find Kara on Boho Berry (grab your favorite warm beverage, you’ll be there for a bit) and on social media at IG, Twitter, FB and YouTube.

Kara Benz is the artist and author behind Boho Berry, where she inspires her readers to lead a more centered, fulfilled, and inspired life. Kara lives in Central NJ and is currently working on opening an Etsy shop filled with planner stickers, printables, and stationery.