In February I decided to take part in a challenge known as InCoWriMo or International Correspondence Writing Month. The goal was to write and mail or deliver a letter every single day in the month of February. These letters could be to family, friends, or even strangers. Many participants shared their addresses on the InCoWriMo website for those who wanted to write to strangers. I added my own address to the mix.

Honestly, I had hoped to receive maybe a dozen letters throughout the month. What little I found on the internet about the challenge didn’t really seem to tell me much about how big the event may or may not be, so I was careful with my hopes on the receiving end. It would at least be a chance for me to indulge my desire to send a bunch of snail mail while waiting on replies from my regular pen pals and that was good enough for me.

I wrote to a combination of existing pen pals, family members, friends who wouldn’t expect to receive letters, and the occasional stranger. Due to some health flare-ups I only got 20 letters sent out. (My hands didn’t work the best there for a few days, so letter-writing wasn’t really an option at that time.)

What did I receive?

53 letters. Yeah, you read that right. FIFTY-THREE.

To say that I was blown away was an understatement.

This is another reason I’m taking a bit of a break from postcrossing (in addition to finances). I plan to respond to everyone who gave me a return address with at least a thank you note or postcard. Others that I seem to have more in common with I will be writing full letters back to. Maybe I’ll end up with some new friends to keep up with!

Even though I was more busy writing letters in February than my own creative work, it was still a wonderful creative exercise in consistency. Sometimes it’s a good idea to step back from your normal projects and do something else that encourages the creative juices to flow.