It’s Day 5 of the #sendcardsspreadlove challenge! And if you’re just joining us, you’re in for a treat because today is the first in our awesome lineup of guest bloggers!

Here’s a recap of what we’ve seen so far during week 1:

• Week 1 challenge instructions & prompts graphic
• BIG LIST of reasons to send cards
• Resources on what to write

Pretty great first week if I do say so myself. And we’ve enjoyed seeing your entries for the week 1 challenge. Keep ‘em coming! You have until 11:59pm EST on April 10th to enter.

We’ll be back on Monday, with the week 2 challenge and a guest post about hand lettering, as suggested by YOU!

But for now, on day 5 of the #sendcardsspreadlove challenge, follow us on IG or join the Facebook group. Be sure to tag @prettybypost and use the #sendcardsspreadlove hashtag.

Our Guest Blogger: Alexandra Franzen

Today’s post is from the eloquent and extremely gifted writer Alexandra Franzen. She’s a major advocate of the handwritten letter and graciously agreed to let me reprint her awesome post about the power of a letter to change a life. I hope you enjoy it and find as much inspiration from her words as I do.

Can writing a letter change your life?

I think so.

– Early in my career, I landed a copywriting project with an award-winning marketing agency — even though I was very young and inexperienced at the time — because I wrote a follow-up note that caught the director’s attention.

– Last year, I got hired by a major technology corporation — the highest-paying writing project of my entire year — because I left a handwritten “thank you” note in a beach cottage that I had rented for a short vacation… which was later discovered by the company’s HR director. She owned the house. I had no idea.

– After meeting my sweetheart, we corresponded through letters, postcards and emails for the first three weeks of our new relationship. I was travelling out of town, teaching workshops in other cities. It was a powerful way to connect — slowly, thoughtfully, honestly. Letters brought us closer together.

These are just three examples from my own life.

How about you?

Can you think of a time in your life where writing — or receiving — a letter unlocked a new opportunity, enhanced a friendship, helped you make a difficult choice, or helped you fall more deeply in love?

How long has it been since you sat down and wrote a heartfelt letter to someone you admire, someone you care about, someone you know, or want to know better?

Maybe… it’s time to write a few more letters.

Feeling a little rusty? Not sure if you’ll be able to get the words flowing?

Good news: I’ve created a free digital booklet all about the art of letter writing.

(It’s basically the “book version” of a similar e-course that I created last January, in celebration of Universal Letter Writing Week.)

The booklet contains writing tips and templates to help you craft 7 different types of letters — a love letter, a fan letter, a thank you letter, a letter filled with heartfelt advice, and more — plus excerpts from some of history’s greatest letters written by Ernest Hemingway, Neil A. Armstrong, Oscar Wilde, Maya Angelou, and many others.

This booklet is a very fun, gentle initiation into starting a “daily writing practice,” not to mention, a great excuse to reconnect with old — and new — friends.

Write letters… because it’s the holidays, because it feels good, because it’s uplifting, because it’s a simple way to create a beautiful ripple effect in the world.

Who knows where that ripple may lead?

-Alex

Would love for you to share in the comments where writing or receiving a letter affected your life in a meaningful way.

* Originally published on alexandrafranzen.com and reprinted with permission

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Author Bio

Alexandra Franzen is an author and writing coach / consultant. She’s based in Portland, Oregon, where she lives with a chef named Brandon and a fish named RuPaul. She loves weightlifting, peanut butter, and people who choose to be kind and generous even when nobody is watching. Her lifelong hero is: Mister Rogers. Her personal motto is: “Today is not over yet.” You can learn more about Alexandra’s current projects at: AlexandraFranzen.com.