21 thank-you letters to write today
Happy World Post Day, dear friends!
Today, 9 October, is World Post Day, an official UN-sanctioned "day of observance." Every year, more than 150 countries celebrate World Post Day in a variety of ways, some countries even observing the day as a public holiday. (The rest of us can live in hope).
Adding oomph to World Post Day, the world has also been celebrating International Letter Writing Week - the week that includes 9 October - for the past 60 years. Established by the Universal Postal Union in 1957, International Letter Writing Week aims to "encourage world peace by encouraging cultural exchanges among the people of the world, through letter writing." World peace, friends.
That goal is every bit as relevant today as it was 60 years ago, so I wondered if you'd like to join me in a mini-challenge, starting today, to write one letter a day, all week. But there's a twist: all seven letters need to express gratitude. Can you do that? Spend seven days feeling all the gratitude and expressing all the thanks, in writing? Seven thank-you letters in seven days. It's totally achievable, yes? (And don't forget folks, this is for world peace).
Do you want to make your challenge public, so we can all cheer you on? Use the hashtags #worldpostday and #7gratitudeletters to show the world what you're doing.
I'm here to help. By way of inspiration, I've shared 21 gratitude prompts below, to get you thinking about the people you might like to write to this week. They are borrowed from a much bigger list of 40 gratitude prompts and 100 letter-writing prompts, which I share with students in my letter-writing and mail-art e-course, The Most Beautiful Letter You Have Ever Written.
Use these prompts any way you like. Maybe they'll provide you with literal inspiration, or maybe they'll help you think creatively, about the other people in your life who would appreciate a little note of thanks from you.
21 gratitude prompts
- Thank your postie for delivering the mail through rain, hail, snow, wind, heatwaves and unfriendly dogs (leave an anonymous letter in a public post box)
- Thank that bookstore employee who made some really great recommendations
- Thank your mum or dad for, you know, your existence
- Thank the barista who makes your coffee just the way you like it
- Thank your grandmother for the excellent scones
- Thank that Etsy seller for putting a personal touch on their sale
- Thank your partner for enriching your life
- Thank your school teacher for inspiring you to learn
- Thank your child’s school teacher for going above and beyond
- Thank your green-grocer for sourcing those great organic apples
- Thank a politician who actually did something good (nobody thanks politicians!)
- Thank a musician for filling your life with song
- Thank your friend for having you to dinner
- Thank your aunt for the birthday card
- Thank your children for making you laugh
- Thank your favourite blogger for working so hard to put out quality, free content
- Thank your favourite podcaster for the same reason
- Thank a charity you support for the good work they do
- Thank an author for the inspiring read
- Thank the housekeeping staff of somewhere you holidayed
- Thank your future self for learning the art of gratitude (hide the letter in a book
* Download the list here if you'd like to print it off to take it with you, and of course don't forget you can always pin it for later. x
ps. If you're in the mood for even more letter-writing inspiration, I want to remind you about my letter-writing and mail-art e-course, "The Most Beautiful Letter You Have Ever Written."
Over four weeks, I will guide you through multiple methods of making beautiful mail-art and creative, handmade stationery; teach you the art of writing and storytelling; help you forge personal connections in your letters and find pen-pals if you want them; and share time-management tips so even the busiest people can enjoy sending and receiving letters. There's also a host of downloadable resources, and access to my own private mail-art pen-pal group. Registrations are open right now, and you can find out more here.
