WHEN L ove

IN TW
COMES
O ords SOCIETY AND CULTURE

handwritten letter
an Emortive Interaction

box of memories
Way of Reserving Human Touch

VOL 1, ISSUE 2
13th, January, 2024
Table of
contents
01 HANDWRITTEN LETTER
an Emortive Interaction
p.4 - p.5

BOX OF MEMORIES
Way of Reserving Human Touch
p.6 - p.7 02

Photo: Minh Huyen

2
 Photo: Minh Huyen

EDITORIAL
Contents: Anh Thu, Nhu Ngoc, Minh Huyen, Trieu Nghi
Photos: Minh Huyen, Trieu Nghi
Visual and Editing: Minh Huyen, Trieu Nghi

D ear our reader,

Welcome to “When Love Comes into Words” a society and culture mag-
azine that shows how different cultures express emotions in different
forms.
Talk about human emotions, it not only be expressed via direct con-
versations, text messages, or phone calls, you can also use the sim-
plest and most rustic style, which is Handwritten Letter. It brings us
many feelings of relaxation that few people know about, each word in
a handwritten letter will make the recipient feel clearly the sensations
the sender wants to say into words.
The following pages will tell readers that handwritten letters still play an
important role in today’s technological society, emotions are not only
communicated through modern devices but also conveyed through
handwriting by letters.
Our magazine crossing will take readers to find the old days, when
feelings were still sincerely attached to each other, demonstrating that
handwritten letters will not fade in this 4.0 era. And to preserve mem-
ories, the souvenirs that we have kept for a long time ago, most emo-
tionally and lovingly are through memory boxes.

A uthors

Photo: Minh Huyen

3
HANDWRITTEN LETTER
Content: Anh Thu
- an Emotive Interaction

This world shows love in many different forms, not only words

“Is nothing something?”

Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh

A
s Zen Master Thich Nhat Donica defined handwriting as the
Hanh mentioned, there are first tool to record information in-
many ways to express love. stead of using oral traditional com-
One of the indispensable ways to ex- munication (Wolfe 2020). Hand-
press affection is through handwrit- writing holds a good position in our
ten letters. hearts (Pen Heaven n.d.),
Nguyen Gia Thuong said “Handwrit-
What are handwritten letters to you? ten letters could very well be the most
Is it a very time-consuming form or a beautiful means of communication
way of expressing emotions? between humans” (Viet Nam News
When was the last time you wrote 2019). Based on Pen Heaven research,
something by hand to your dears? 64% of people thought that handwrit-
When was the last time you received ing letters are more meaningful than
handwriting letters? sending messages, or texts through
media platforms (Facebook, Twitter,
Since yesterday, two weeks, one etc.). However, the fact that 69% of
month, or maybe several years ago. It individuals do not spend their time
is such a long time, right? sitting and writing letters by hand
(Pen Heaven n.d.).
Photo: Minh Huyen

Why is this phenomenon happening?

W
ith the technological development and the
invention of smartphones and computers,
handwriting letters are not as popular as
they used to be. We are living in a globalized society,
we tend to send messages promptly and as immedi-
ately as we can. With instant convenience communi-
cation, we do not have many things to write in letters
(Selah Studios n.d.). Moreover, some people feel em-
Photo: Minh Huyen
barrassed about their writing or just because it wastes
too much time (Kirby 2019). However, communica- Expressing feelings through letters can be seen as a con-
tion through technology still has risks. For emails or nection between members of the family, friends, or lov-
texts, grammar errors are not the only problem, not ers. Handwriting letters can be a tool to express appreci-
sending messages carefully, and using slang or acro- ation to people who receive the letters. Through the way
nyms could also have risks in conveying a lack of the people meticulously craft each word when writing a let-
most crucial aspect of communication also another ter to say thank you, congratulate, sorry, etc. Moreover,
problem (Campbell 2020). Despite that, handwriting we can understand others through their handwriting,
letters still plays an important role in our lives. In Gift which can be seen as a window showing our souls, and
of a Letter: Giving the Gift of Ourselves book, Alex- our personalities (Selah Studios n.d.). Are you a mini-
andra Stoddard mentioned that a letter is a part of a malist person or a maximalist one?
relationship.

4
 Photo: Minh Huyen

Letters To Angel (L2A)

L E
2A is a non-profit organization established in ventually, handwritten letters are often kept as
2016, “using handwritten letters as a conve- memorabilia, healing or allowing the recipient
nient artistic medium to build emotional infor- to revisit the emotions and memories associated
mation and automatically identify yourself for every- with the letter. Hence, a memory box is considered a
one”. “There is a letter outside the door” is a project profound idea for preserving remembrances.
owned by L2A, it received a lot of anonymous letters
from audiences. In this project, audiences feel free to
let their emotions go by writing letters and sending
them to L2A because the organization does not leak
the audience’s information. L2A can be a friend, a
psycho doctor, or a listener to listens to audiences’
stories and then gives them advice. Those stories may
convey positive messages or negative ones. Hand-
writing letters can be the way to self-healing. L2A re-
ceived a letter from a person who had doubts about
themselves, doubt about their future, their career,
and being exhausted with everything around them.
And in this situation, L2A had an impressive answer: An An (2018) “Tell the secrets via handwritten letters”, Tien Phong website, accessed 12 January 2024.
[Link]
“Each of us has a secondary asset, which is our own YK83n4_bbfubnzM0VvMR1CqJO4frUGGeTKLGqk
Campell G (2020) ‘The Emotional Impact of Handwritten Notes’, LinkedIn, accessed 12 January 2024.
story. Ten people will have ten completely different [Link]
wAR0KUmLoipp1Z2Qs-UCDE7VWLkKKokLR80fQsnKm1Ahu8fvcf1KwHwrC4PU
stories. Stoddard A (2004) Gift of a Letter: Giving the Gift of Ourshelves, Dell Publishing Group
Kirby Phil (2019), BIG IDEA | Why Don’t We Write More Letters?, The Culture Vulture website, accessed 8
Do you know what makes us valuable in the first January 2024. [Link]
Pen Heaven (n.d.) ‘Handwritten Letters Which Made History’, Pen Heaven, accessed 8 January 2024. https://
place? That somewhere there are still people who [Link]/blog/handwritten-letters-which-made-history

love us, and there are still people who love us”. Each Selah Studios (n.d.) In the Digital Age, is a Handwritten Letter Still Important?, Selah Studios website, accessed
8 January 2024.
letter has distinguished advice to help audiences or to [Link]
Viet Nam News (10 January 2018) ‘Exhibition gathers handwritten letters in the past century’, Viet Nam News,
share happiness with them. Thanks to this meaning- accessed 8 January 2024.
[Link]
ful project, many people can express their emotions Wolfe D (2020) How Handwriting Has Changed Over the Last 100 Years, Reader’s Digest website, accessed 8
January 2024.
and find the right way to continue (An An 2018). [Link]
Thich Nhat Hanh Zen Master (2020) “Is nothing something?”, Kim Dong publisher, Ha Noi.

5
 Photo: Minh Huyen

box of memories
Content: Nhu Ngoc

- Way of Reserving Human Touch

“Memory…is the diary that we all carry with us”

Oscar Wilde

M
emories are the most precious flower that each person brings
to our lives. They could change the whole world, sometimes
bad, sometimes good, they may be an unforgettable experience
that lets us remember for our entire life. but that experience must cause a
meaningful lesson, one that we could not learn from your social media site
or the internet, to make it stay in our hearts forever. Memorable is not the
word for those feelings, it cannot describe the ineffable influence of mem-
ories that need to be felt from the inside of our hearts, the mutual part that
we do not concentrate on ages, sexualities, standards, instead of love and
cure. Memories are the rope that holds people together, they match heat to
heat and heal the dead soul from being devastated. They are beautiful re-
membrances that remain in our minds. Each of us has a variety of memo-
ries in life, joys and sorrows along with ups and downs, sometimes hidden
in our hearts, but from time to time we can store them as tangible objects.
Photo: Minh Huyen

6
B
efore technology gradually developed until An An (2018), Tell the secrets via handwritten letters, Tien Phong website, accessed 12 January 2024.
[Link]
today, we humans used to be very rustic and rdn-qiYK83n4_bbfubnzM0VvMR1CqJO4frUGGeTKLGqk
Bao Lam (19 Sept 2018), How life changes as technology develops), VnExpress, accessed 8 January 2024.
simple, our childhood memories and memen- [Link]
tos kept carefully. When we grow up, many memories Boston University (2018) Handwritten letters as a revolutionary communication tool, Boston University web-
site, accessed 13 January 2024.
come back when we recall, a time of youth has passed, [Link]
Jarrett C (27 Dec 2016) ‘Why are we so attached to our things’ [video], TED-Ed, YouTube website, accessed 8
a beautiful time has come to us. However, in today’s January 2024. [Link]
Kingston K (19 Jan 2021) ‘Keepsakes and memory boxes’, Karen Kingston, accessed 8 January 2024. https://
modern society with the era of technological devel- [Link]/blog/keepsakes/
Tan Dat (14 Feb 2020), Love in the 4.0 era: Writing letters is so ‘cheesy’!, Báo Thanh Niên, accessed 13 January
opment, people are gradually immersed in the world 2024. [Link]

“Without memory, there is no culture.

Without memory, there would be no civiliza-
tion, no society, no future”
Elie Wiesel

Observably, culture, civilization, society, and the fu-

ture cannot be generated without memories, helping
the past to be created, and helping the present and
future remember the past. Therefore, memory plays a
vital role in our life and some little items represent-
ing memory are also momentous. People tend to keep
their things for themselves, to be possessed with any-
thing they have (Jarrett 2016), not surprising that some Photo: Minh Huyen

P
people have a habit of putting memorized things into a
ossibly, expressing love through letters sounds
box, called a memory box. This box is a secret base for
cheesy and many people think so, saying that
storing memories, with family, friends, or even strang-
they are not necessary in this modern era (Tan
ers, such as handwritten letters sent to each other, or
Dat 2020), but like the L2A organization being able to
gifts from important occasions (Karen Kingston 19
chat anonymously will make us no longer feel lonely
January 2021). These are little things but profound and
(An An 2018). Sit back and reflect, reminisce about
sufficiently nostalgic for everyone.
times, the people who have appeared in our lives and
brought a lot of meaning to us, what we will be in the
years to come, and what we need a boost to promote.
“Life is all memory, except for the one pres- Having spent many moments with those people, our
ent moment that goes by you so quickly you thoughts and feelings are expressed more clearly in
hardly catch it going” letters, without using modern language, rejuvenating
Tennessee Williams survival and emphasizing the beauty of the language
through handwritten letters.

O
When those handwritten letters are completed, they
n occasions, a typical example is someone’s
will be sent to readers in many forms. “One of the
birthday, the memory box not only acts as
most basic forms of sending and receiving messages
our memory storing base, but it also can be
between two people was in the form of written letters”
considered as a way for giving presents. When giving
(Boston University 2018), in the past it might take
gifts to the other person, we can bring everything we
time to be sent to the recipient, but now handwritten
have experienced with them such as printed photos,
letters have a new turning point, it is still possible to
small miscellaneous gifts, or even a letter of expres-
express love to those near us and give it to them di-
sion written with all of our emotional sensations. It
rectly. The recipient who gets the letter will feel like
may not seem like an expensive, luxurious present, but
they have returned to the previous times, bringing a
they carry great strength. Because their companion-
new sensation when receiving a gift of a handwritten
ship and support have helped us and this is our way
letter. They will cherish that and put them in a mem-
of thanking them and expressing our love. Associated
ory box, it will store the remembrances and souvenirs
with the preparation, not for them to remember us,
they receive in their beautiful lives. So, with the old
but to memorize the moments we have spent together,
way but in the new age, why don’t we write a letter
forever remembered in each person’s heart.
to someone and let them keep it in a memory box to
store the memories that they have spent with us?