Hannah Brencher

Have you ever walked to the mailbox and received a handwritten, addressed letter?  I have, and it's one of the best feelings in the world.  There is nothing like reading the hand written words of someone who thought enough of you, to write down their thoughts and mail them to you personally.  I know this seems like a prehistoric method, but it's very endearing to me.  As nostalgic as handwriting may be today, it seems as if I'm not the only one who still believes in the power of the handwritten word.

Hannah Brencher, a young woman who grew up in a household where her mother didn't believe in internet or cell phones, hand written letters, was their way of keeping in touch with one another.   At the age of 23,  Hannah moved to New York City and came face to face with a severe case of depression.  She began dealing with her depression in the best way that she knew how.  She began writing love letters to complete strangers and leaving them all over New York.  These letters, I imagine, were being received by the most unlikely of characters, but the technique would spread quickly to Hannah's surprise.  She began receiving messages from complete strangers asking her to write a letter of affection or affirmation to them.  Hannah explains in her video, how her letters were not only reaching people that needed something to believe in, but that the letter writing was inspiring others to do the same.  The story that touched me the most was about a woman who's husband had just returned from Afghanistan and she was struggling to communicate with him.  The woman began leaving love letters all throughout the house asking him to come back to her when he could.  She pleaded with him to talk to her when he felt comfortable.  This is the type of unique ability I hope to achieve through my messages of hope.

I believe the joy in life is hidden under the glamorous "things" we continue to pursue.  It doesn't always take money to make a person smile or to ensure someone has a great day.  When was the last time you sat down and wrote a letter of affection to someone you love?  I remember a couple of years ago when my son was 13 years old, I wrote him a hand written note telling him how much I loved and appreciated him.  A couple of weeks ago I was cleaning his room, (to my specifications) and I ran across the hand written note I had given him 3 years earlier.  I couldn't believe he still had that note.  I knew then, the hand written note has an affect that a typed letter will never have and that's your ink print.  An ink print is as unique as a fingerprint because there is no one else's handwriting that's like yours.  My son didn't just keep a little hand written note, he kept a note written specifically for him, by his Mother.  There is nothing more endearing and heartfelt than that.

Hannah, whether she realized it or not, had a unique effect on the people who received her mystery love letters.  The strangers that received these notes knew somebody took the time to sit down and write this note personally.  That's impressive considering if we could bottle time it would be the hottest commodity on the planet.  In using that perspective, for someone to take the "time" to write a love letter to a complete stranger has a heart that needs to share the stories they're taking the time to write.  This is why Hannah Brencher is my Ted.com speaker of choice.