What makes a good pen pal?
This one is going to be the easiest and shortest blog post I’ve ever written.
All of those things that spring to mind when you ask yourself, what makes a good friend? Yes, it’s all of those things. That’s it.
A pen pal is a friend. And if you view them as such, the rest pretty much just falls into place.
Be kind, take an interest in them, be honest and share yourself, and keep in touch. I wrote How Quickly Should I Reply To My Pen Pal a while back which might help you here.
Most of all, enjoy the relationship.
Pen palling is such a unique way of building and maintaining a friendship, it’s precious.
You have all of these friends over the country or the world and the chances are that you feel you know them really well, despite never having been in the same room as them.
We’ve all heard the stories of people who have pen palled for decades, the stories of moments when pen pals do meet up, and I don’t know about you, but I absolutely love hearing things like this.
Having had pen pals for years, I get it. I know that many of you reading this have pen pals and I’m sure you get it too.
These people are your friends. When you spot their letters in your post-box, you know their handwriting, you are already looking forward to settling down to hear their news.
As I’m writing this, the names of my pen pals are flitting through my mind and I’m smiling as I think about them, about all I know of their lives, they are friends to me.
Pen palling is a wonderful hobby to have. It can be relaxing, it can be creative, it can give you an excuse to have cute stationery supplies, it can teach you things about other cultures, but most of all, it’s about connecting.
You might want to spend a while decorating your envelope, you might want to send some cute little extras with your mail, you might cover your writing paper in stamps and stickers, all are great fun for both you and your pen pal. But these things are cherries on top, for both of you.
What makes a good pen pal is being a good friend.
What do you think?
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