I was nervous.

Nervous that my words wouldn’t come across like I’d intended. Nervous as I imagined a stranger reading them.

Biting my lip in that nervous way I sometimes do, I dropped the letter into the mailbox. And then I took a deep breath.

Hannah Brencher started writing love letters while on a subway in New York City. With heart and compassion, she wrote some uplifting, lovely words onto a piece of paper, folded it up, and left it anonymously on the seat as she left.

Hundreds of love letters later – left all over New York, in coffee shops, trains, and on tables, all for the purpose of spreading a little joy – Hannah decided to recruit others to join her mission. She started a web site – moreloveletters.com – to coordinate and inspire other writers. She encouraged them to pledge to leave letters in their own towns, and then she started taking calls for specific, monthly Love Letter Missions.

In reading about Hannah’s zeal for pumping love back into the world, I decided to join one such monthly mission. This one called for letters to be sent to a young woman expecting her first child. This woman didn’t have much family support, and needed to know, now more than ever, that people were pulling for her. Even if those people had never even met her.

I wrote one such letter to Briana, sent it off to Hannah’s P.O. box and into her capable hands to bundle up and deliver.

And though I was nervous as I dropped it into that mailbox, I also felt a little twinge of fulfillment. This small action made me feel substantial. Even though it was such a tiny gesture, I felt like I was contributing a piece of myself. The kind of piece that can’t always be conveyed over social media.

Several weeks later, Hannah posted an update about the Briana Love Letter Mission bundle on the More Love Letters blog. And my little letter made a cameo appearance.

And it felt good to know the words I’d poured onto that page could mean something to someone else.

Now, I receive Love Letter Requests in my inbox once a month for bundles similar to that which was sent to Briana. It only takes five minutes to write a piece of yourself full of compassion onto the page. And who knows how that gesture will affect the receiver.

It could make all the difference on those days that seem to conspire against you. It could remind them that they aren’t as isolated as it sometimes feels.

I decided to put the More Love Letters badge Hannah created on my blog here. Over to the right —-> see it up there? Clicking on it will direct you right on over to her site. I definitely encourage you to consider signing up for the monthly Love Letter newsletter and get involved too. As the holidays approach, it’s a great way to give back in a tangible, loving way. Sign up here.