Writing letters to yourself

Fear, not!  Spoke briefly with them today (and met their friendly pet dog too).

I find that some people living in our road always keep very much to themselves, while others will stop and have a brief chat when they see each other.  Some people might just nod / wave in exchanged recognition as they pass by on foot / in their car / on their motorbike.  Some local neighbours will "wheely bin marshal" for each other if they are aware someone is on holiday / in hospital.

I have put an inexpensive "buddy" bench, with a little coffee side table, into my front garden in a shady area. 

Sometimes I use the little bench to read, to listen to music via headphones, enjoy a coffee in the breeze, sort out veg seed packets, or prepare art / craft materials - perhaps as I await an expected Royal Mail / Courier delivery etc.

I have found that my using the little bench in the shade, or a folding deckchair placed in a sunny spot if that appeals (in the front garden) - has seemed to help some neighbours to be more confident to approach me with those little conversations which often may start with: "Oh, I meant to say ...".

Hand written things still mean something and are more personal.

I bought something and they put a compliments slip in with a hand written thankyou and my name. Was a nice touch. Indeed I bought some more from them.

It costs little and makes the world more human, something we seem to be trying to remove.

I think the post is variable. I seem to get letters in batches which suggests they might store them up.

They don't seem to be franked anymore, so there is no date to know how long they took from posting to delivery.

Your process seems a good way to tell. Although it may be sorted locally so may not be representative of the broader service.

Hehe. Have you spoken to them yet? Hopefully your letter was well received. Its nice to receive something that is not a bill etc. 

I've lived here 20 years now and I can count on one hand the number of times anyone in the vicinity has spoken to me.

I thought of this thread recently; when a retired household moved into our road. 

Moving home usually involve lots of admin., mostly to do with bills / invoices and updating contact details with utility companies etc.  

I left it about a week - for them to hopefully settle-in a little more, then I put in their letterbox - a simple "good wishes to welcome you to your new home" notelet.

In this ever-busy era of email, social media, smartphones and so forth; I thought it might be better to enable them to have a sit down with a cup of tea and open a physical piece of post ...which, by way of a change, was not a bill.

(Anyway, I hope that might have been how it was received).

Just an update on this amazingly interesting thread. The envelope I posted was delivered 22 hours later. With a second class stamp. And people moan that the post is slow!

On the subject of other letters though.... I ordered a new bank card which hasn't materialised. I sent a subject access request to the DWP which got ignored. Still haven't heard anything on my PIP claim. I did get a P45 for my now terminated ESA claim though (do wish me luck finding money!). I also eventually got a reply to a letter I wrote to the Samaritans. I won't discuss the contents here, but yes, it turns out that my handwriting is readable.

Do please forgive me if I may have misunderstood either of your age group / preference of communication styles / or the reason which made you want to post here (or via the letter box); however, I wondered if your area might have available one of the range of befriending services? - if you are interested you could try using the postcode search or helpline here:

https://www.ageuk.org.uk/services/befriending-services/

Otherwise, you might find on this other website - from a selection of other services who provide support for people who feel alone - something better suited to what you might prefer:

https://www.redcross.org.uk/get-involved/connected-communities/where-to-go-for-help-with-loneliness

Hoping you find something which may to suit how you like to socially connect with people.

Ah so letter writing in and of itself is not your interest here - but it does seem like you are interested in the postal system and how it works? or is that just as you say a sanity check. Consider what in this you have found interesting or is there anything in your life which you have done and then felt a sort of fulfillment or joy. Was it watching for the post man? or predicting the path - autistic people have great pattern recognition - how can you see this in your life?  Have a long think about that and see if there is something you can do to bring back that fulfillment feeling and seek the variety in life you crave so your days are full. Autism can be more than a weight around your neck it can be your joy. Make it your lifes work to find this purpose in life. I'll pray for you

I thought this was going to be something else.

I had a conversation with an acupuncturist while he was sticking needles into my ears. He was talking about personal trauma recovery.

He used to write himself a letter that detailed his fears and dislikes. He'd then reread and destroy them once he'd understood his own thought process.

Thanks.

I should note that I don't actually write anything - I just send blank sheets. I know very few people, so seldom ever get letters or phone calls. Back in the "olden days" I used to look out of the window and try and predict when the postman would arrive and which route he would take. Of course he seldom came here. Posting the occasional envelope to myself served as a useful sanity check that the system works.

I used to write a diary but have neglected it over the last 5 years or so. It got to a point where the only thing of note to write is "went to Tesco" and there's only so many times you can write that before it gets completely pointless.

I'm sorry you are bored at home and that's why you wrote the letter... but actually writing the letter seems like a skill or something you could do - or a call to do some journalling. Perhaps you can write letters to people on death row? or get a penpal (now I really show my age! I think these things are online these days). Why not see if writing cna be your thing... blog writing is like a letter? 

I hope you find some direction to break your monotony. 

Well, I'm back from posting it. I posted it in the main postbox near the post office, so I actually caught it half an hour before its due to be emptied. I also took the opportunity to spend £3 in Greggs.