一纸书信寄相思——那么远又这么近

阚平

Finally， I thought， that after nearly half a month， the Christmas letter was here in my hand. It was put into a brown， delicately sticker-decorated envelope， smelling like newly-cut wood. Yes， writing letters is how my friends in the U.S. and I exchange our greetings every Christmas. People ask why not simply send our greetings on Facebook， or on WeChat， and by the way， itll save money. I dont know how to answer. Writing letters to me is more of a natural habit than a quirk1 in modern times. However， today I begin to see the questioning towards its necessity. As I relate to my own experience as a veteran2 letter writer， I can assure you—writing letters engages us more， in contrast to modern communications， in an emotionally-efficient communication.

We human beings are emotional animals， and our emotions crave3 to be discovered before they are expressed. They lurk in a little corner in our brain and oftentimes what we can readily identify and dig out is only the tip of the emotional iceberg.4 The rest of the iceberg is buried deep beyond our conscious awareness. Our emotions， diversified and abundant， demand serious contemplation5 to be explored. Now you might think， well Ive done that already. You see， I spent quite some time every day updating my WeChat moments. I dont think I could know my own feelings any better. Wait. First let me show you what researchers found in a study conducted in California State University. Electronic devices prevent people greatly from discovering their inner feelings by yielding an average of a measly three-minute concentration at a stretch.6 Modern communications， therefore， hinder emotional revelation by depriving us of the ability to focus.7 Writing letters， however， can deepen our concentrations. It is not only true in that we can automatically choose to avoid external distractions， but more so in the way it engages our brain. In Time magazine， researches have published a finding that the part of our brain in the motor cortex and affiliated areas that are engaged when we write something by hand require deeper processing.8 Therefore as we write， our brain is given the opportunity to discover links between things we didnt see before， enabling us to unfold9 our emotions to the largest extend.

If I am here to tell you today one thing I love most about writing letters， the answer would be its tactility—feeling of my hand running through the pages， feeling of pen sliding across the paper， and feeling of the fragrance of ink permeating the air.10 Writing letters is eventually a tangible11 experience.

I used to worry， though， that somehow my words would fail12 my feelings， and that while I love the tangible experience of writing a letter， the receiver may not feel the same thing. But it turns out that in sending the letter， your words matter， and the letter itself also matters. For its nature of tangibility， letters build a bridge between the writer and the receiver. It is so not only because my letter receivers always report a high emotional resonance after reading my letters， it also has scientific evidence for backup.13 According to a research outcome revealed in “Reasons to Love Mail”， people value something 24% more highly when they can see and touch it rather than just see it； still more， in a finding by a neuroscience14 study， people experience a much higher level of emotional engagement when they receive messages in the form of a letter， rather than of any other media. Im thrilled in learning these. And good news to everyone who reads this as well. When trying to open up to someone once in a while， and seeking to be understood， we are now more than assured.

1. quirk： 怪癖。

2. veteran： 經验丰富的。

3. crave： 渴望。

4. 这些情感藏在大脑的一个小角落里，通常情况下，我们能轻易意识到并发掘出来的只是冰山一角。lurk：潜藏；readily： 迅速地。

5. contemplation： 沉思。

6. 人们使用电子设备交流时，平均只能连续集中短短三分钟时间的注意力，这样就很难去发现自己内心的情感。measly： 很少的，微不足道的；at a stretch： 连续地。

7. hinder： 阻碍；revelation： 展现；deprive of： 剥夺，使丧失。

8. 在《时代》杂志上，研究人员的一项发现表明，当我们用手写字时，我们大脑中的运动皮层和相关区域开始工作，而这些区域需要对信息进行更深层次的处理。cortex： 皮质，皮层；affiliated： 隶属的，相关的。

9. unfold： 展现。

10. tactility： 触感；permeate：（声音、味道等）充斥，弥漫。

11. tangible： 可触知的。

12. fail：（使）不如愿，辜负。

13. resonance： 共鸣；backup： 支持。

14. neuroscience： 神经系统科学。