Some human experiences deserve protection. Opening a letter is one of them.
Think of the last time you found a real letter in your mailbox. Not a bill, not an advertisement: an envelope with your name written by someone's hand. Remember the small jolt of it. You probably didn't open it right away. You turned it over. You looked at the stamp. You guessed.
That pause is a meditation, and most of us have forgotten how to take it.
Why an envelope
Meditation doesn't always begin with closing your eyes. Sometimes it begins with an object that asks for your full attention. An envelope is perfect for this. It has a weight, a texture, a sound. It holds something you don't know yet. It invites curiosity and patience at the same time, which is exactly the state meditation tries to create.
A short envelope meditation
Try this the next time a letter arrives, or with any envelope you have at home, even an empty one.
1. Hold it. Before anything else, hold the envelope in both hands. Notice its weight. Is it heavier or lighter than you expected? 2. Feel it. Run your fingertips over the paper. Smooth or textured? Warm or cool? Can you feel edges inside, a card, folded pages? 3. Look. The handwriting, the stamp, the postmark, the small marks of its journey. This envelope crossed streets, perhaps countries, to reach you. 4. Listen. Turn it over slowly. Hear the paper move. Let that sound be the only thing in the room. 5. Breathe. Three slow breaths, with the envelope still sealed. Notice the anticipation in your body. Don't rush it. 6. Open it slowly. Listen to the paper tear. Unfold the page. Before reading, look at it as a whole: the shape of the writing, the space on the page. 7. Read. Then read it again.
What it teaches
So much of our day is about getting to the next thing. The envelope teaches the opposite: that the moment before has value too. Practiced often, this kind of attention spreads: to the first sip of coffee, the moment before you open a book, the second before someone picks up the phone.
The full meditation, free
I wrote a longer, guided meditation on receiving a letter. It's called The First Letter, and you can read it or listen to it, wherever you are. It's free, and it comes with a sample of my magazine, "(meditating) On Art". Open it slowly.
Remember to take as much time as you need, and meet me at the next one.
Love, Evi