One of my goals for this year is to write more letters, and I have found wonderful tools to help me keep this goal.

Back in November, I joined the Letter Writers Association (LWA) and what Kathy and Donovan have created is just amazing. They give you the opportunity to connect with penpals, send mail by pigeon or pneumatic post (at some point, I plan on trying both), and much more.

And about a month ago I discovered More Love Letters (MLL), an organization dedicated to spreading more love in the world by leaving letters for strangers. Just last week, I left an anonymous letter in the elevator of an office building, and the next day I saw a tweet from the person that picked it up. It was such an awesome feeling to know that I put a smile on someone’s face.

Now, I can add a challenge to my goal, and that is to write a letter and mail a letter every day during the month of February. I’m quite excited to start planning who I will be writing to each day, and to buy some stationary and postcards for this challenge.

One of the side effects of my rekindled affinity for letter writing is that I’m developing an interest in stamps. I used to just go to the post office whenever I needed stamps (which was almost never), and I was content with whatever they had in stock. But now, it’s disappointing to be limited to the selection they have and I will probably never buy stamps at a local post office again. Thankfully, there is a wonderful selection on the USPS website to choose from.

Stamps also make me think of my grandfather, who has long been a philatelist, and I’m looking forward to seeing his collection the next time I go up for a visit.

How are your 2013 goals going so far?