By yon bonnie banks and by yon bonnie braes, Where the sun shines bright on Loch Lomond, Where me and my true love will never meet again, On the bonnie, bonnie banks o' Loch Lomond. Hi, boys and girls. I'm Rajiv Surendra You know what I do for a living? I'm a calligrapher
that's right. I make a living writing by hand mhm It's great. Really good So you know why I'm able to make a living writing
by hand because not very many people do it anymore and today I'm pairing with the Morgan Library. It's my great honor to be doing something for the Morgan to talk to
you a little bit about letter writing So I want you all to think about how many messages you sent yesterday
how many text messages how many emails how many zoom calls or phone calls you made
how much correspondence you had in the day and how much of that correspondence is
actually going to be around in 100 years probably not a lot of it that
someone can actually pick up and hold but a letter is very very different you
write something down on a piece of paper put it in an envelope put a little stamp on it
put it in a mailbox and the chances are that today the person that receives it is going to hold on
to it and who knows who knows where that's going to be in 100 years frankly that's not why I'm here
to talk to you about this I don't want you to be motivated solely by the future but the Morgan has
a wonderful collection of correspondence by some very notable people: Jane Austen, Edgar Allan Poe,
Queen Elizabeth I, Vincent van Gogh, and uh my favorite my favorite collection of letters at
the Morgan is actually a set of letters that are semi-illustrated by Beatrix Potter so I'm going
to read you my favorite Beatrix Potter letter and after that I'm going to walk
you through how to write a letter so this letter by Beatrix was written
to the young son of her former governess a little boy named Noel Falmouth Hotel, Falmouth, March 11, '92. My dear Noel,
Thank you for your very interesting letter, which you sent me a long time ago. I have come a very
long way in a puff-puff to a place in Cornwall, where it is very hot, and there are palm trees
in the gardens + camellias + rhododendrons in flower which are very pretty. We are living
in a big house close to the sea, we go on the harbour in a steamboat and see ever so many
big ships. Yesterday we went across the water to a pretty little village where the fishermen
live. I saw them catching crabs in a basket cage which they let down into the sea with some meat
in it + then the crabs go in to eat the meat and cannot get out. I shall be quite sorry to come
away from this nice place but we now have been here ten days. Before we go home we are going for
two days to Plymouth to see some bigger ship still. I shall come to see you and tell your
Mamma all about it when I get home. I have got a lot of shells for you and
Erie I suppose they would not swallow them. This is a pussy I saw looking for fish. These
are two little dogs that live in the hotel, + two tame seagulls + a great many cocks + hens
in the garden. I am going today to a place called the Lizard so I have no time to draw any more
pictures + remain yours affectionately Beatrix Potter Isn't that amazing- isn't that amazing? That
we have this letter with all of its little doodles so here's the thing people today are often intimidated when I encourage them to write
letters saying, Oh, but my handwriting's really bad. It's not about your handwriting. It's about you
leaving your actual mark on a piece of paper and whether it's messy or beautiful whether it's
short or long whether it's perfect or flawed the person that holds that piece of paper sees a
real part of you that a cold text message or an email just can't convey. I mean at the end of this
letter you can see that she wrote the end in in something else. It probably wasn't the same
pen. It looks like it was pencil maybe and she was rushed she had to go to a place called
Lizard so I have no time to draw any more pictures and then she signs off so
I just love looking at this wonderful collection that the Morgan has
and all these letters are available online so I encourage you to do that. Now I
am going to write a letter to Anna and before I do this I just thought I would
tell you a little bit about how to write a letter if you've never done it before or if it's
been a long time since you've written a letter More the the psychological aspects
of putting together a letter so when I write a letter I open up my pad of paper
and then I usually think about the person that I'm going to write to and I almost feel like
they're sitting right here with me and when I take my pen and dip it into the ink and start
writing I haven't thought in advance about what I'm going to write it actually really is a genuine
conversation and what ends up happening is that you genuinely get down what you would say to
them if they were sitting here with you. So it can be a little intimidating for some people but you
have to just start you have to just put your pen on the paper and and start writing there is a sort
of architecture to writing a letter you know you start at the top of the page and you start your
conversation and if you get to the end of a page and you're feeling like you don't really have
much more to say then you should find a way to close it off and to close it off not
abruptly but to sort of tie the ideas together at the end and then sign your name if
you have more to say and you start another page it's much better if you can continue until the
end of that second page stopping in the middle of a page and signing off there's always this
feeling that I get from seeing the blank part of a page that Oh, I guess they didn't have
any more to say to me because I was boring and I know that that's probably not the
case but there is that there is that sort of unspoken feeling that they ran out
of something to say because they didn't they didn't fill the rest of the page so sit down open
up your paper think of the person you're writing to and then just start writing. I
would now like to read you a letter that I received from I think one of the finest letter
writers I know this is my friend Gigi in Ireland and boy does she know how to do it so
here's a master here's a master at work 21st of June 2020. Dearest Rajiv, it's
hard to believe it's the summer solstice over and done with. Now the days get
longer, perish the thought, for now I am cherishing and appreciating each and
every day long or short tempus fugit. How are you, our dear friend, so far away? It was a
real delight to receive your missive so impeccably executed, a joy to behold. It sounds like you
are in splendid isolation and quite enjoying it. Actually, I have to admit I am in my element being
more grounded and not dashing around. What worries me is I'm in no hurry to get out there into the
wide world. I've become yet more reclusive not that I needed much coaxing. Mr. C is chomping at the-
champing at the bit. Quite the opposite missing the crack. It will all unfold and I'm not planning
ahead. Our wonderful sunny days are over and we're back to grey overcast days, swirling clouds,
and morning mists, tempestuous waves in Lough Brackley. I love it. It means I can curl up with a
book, do my knitting, or bake a cake without being torn between that or tending to the garden. How
are you? Are you still keeping motivated and upbeat I hope so. This is a melancholy time for you and
you're much in my thoughts. Yoga is great for settling the equilibrium and I'm really happy to
know you're practicing each day as am I. I think it's what keeps me going without really knowing
it. It's a good discipline, calming and healing. There is absolutely no news from here other than
that the cuckoo has flown off and left us to our own devices. We're battling on trying to keep up
appearances cutting the grass regularly, cleaning windows. I read lots but have a mental block with
writing for some reason. My hair is wilder than ever. Anna continues to send regular food parcels.
This week from county Galway fresh plaice, cod, smoked haddock, and Galway Bay prawns. Oh
so delicious. We've had fish three days running eating it all whilst fresh with samphire -- a
real treat. Although, I have to say Mr. Tullamore DEW has had to put on a brave face and grit his
teeth, fortifying himself before and after, with something stronger than the fish itself you
can imagine. So I have promised him a reward stake and kidney pie tomorrow made by my own
fair hand. I have to admit there's only a smidgen of kidney in it. I would say more of
a threat than a taste which suits me better. Your biryani sounds quite divine, and I've never
actually made one but loved them. By chance today when I rang Becky, she was in the process of making
a biryani herself. Surely this is a sign for me to get my act together and conjure up one myself.
Becky went into great detail to explain the gist of it. I had no idea it was so complicated. All
that layering with yogurt absorbing into the rice. I'd better get my act together. Next week we'll
motor to Westport to check out the little house and visit mother. I believe things are
opening up a little now -- shops opening. Not that I'll be doing much shopping but I do
miss seeing everyone especially family friends. Forgive this boring attempt at correspondence
dear Rajiv. The important thing is to feel close and know that you are loved. You are by us,
and we send you all our love. Gigi and Tony Look at that. Just tied so nicely together at the
bottom of the page. So think about someone you care about after you watch this video turn off
your phone. Don't just put it down. Turn it off! And put it away and take out some paper and your
favorite pen and write a letter to that special person and I guarantee that they will be very
moved by the letters you formed on the page.
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Guy can sing, that was impressive.
/u/pbiscuits, he should take your online course for penmanship. :)
Great video! It was very encouraging.