Today's assignment from The Art of Manliness "30 Days to a Better Man" series is to "Reconnect with an Old Friend." This is aptly timed, as I have a few friends that I owe some serious correspondence. Truth be told, there are a few people that I have lost over the years with multiple migrations, and ever changing email addresses, let alone home addresses. (Who keeps those written down anymore?) A few folks missed out on the past several years of my life. Kinda important stuff to miss. How do I start *those* letters?
I used to be a hardcore letter writer, loving to choose the optimal writing utensil for the fanciful stationary or indie letter press stock. Hand written letters and well chosen cards are high up there on my list for old world romance. I don't even mean sappy, saccharine sweet puppy love. By 'romance' I mean those long standing, sweeping emotions that emanate from our tender, intimate core. It doesn't have to be reserved exclusively for our spouses or significant others. Best friends and confidantes would be just fine.
It used to be one of the qualifiers in my life – how I knew the ranks of my inner circle. There were those who wrote, and those who didn't. There were those who sometimes bought obligatory cards for holidays and such, and then those who simply wrote for every other reason. Those were the ones I held on to... And I still do. I have saved every letter (except those from an early girlfriend) that I have ever received, and have them all filed by sender.
There are some friends that use email as the newer vehicle for these same old heartfelt messages. As much as I miss the swooping details of their lower case g's, or upper case w's, or the tactile response from feeling the page's texture on my fingertips, I still adore the antiquated roots in this newer format. Again, there are those of whom write for the sake of writing, and I love it all.
This assignment is the necessary prompting I need to dust off my old letter writing skills, and reach out to those old friends that have drifted away in time and space. Wish me luck with fessing up about this big whopper of a transition!
Here is the link and excerpt for AOM's series:
http://artofmanliness.com/2009/06/06/30-days-to-a-better-man-day-7-reconnect-with-an-old-friend/
We have previously discussed the ardent friendships of the 19th century, and the interesting history of male friendship in general. And while much has changed in our world since Lincoln’s day, are we not still a society where we head from our hometowns to far flung locations in pursuit of career or college, and are we not still at times, if we can admit it, “unbearably lonely?”
Yet unlike the men of the 19th century, the men of today do not seek even closer friendships to enrich their lives and lend them support. Instead, under the excuse of being too busy, and out of the fear of being called a homo, we often distance ourselves from other men, trying to be the lone wolf. Or, as Wayne has pointed out, we look to female relationships to cure all of our hunger for intimacy.
Did someone call me a homo??? Maybe their insulting comment got lost in the mail.
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