Letter(s) of consolation
Photo by Drew Easley on Unsplash
Think of someone — ideally someone you don’t know that well — who is going through a hard time. It doesn’t have to be something dramatic or a huge loss. Just something that might be troubling them or giving them a case of the blues. Write a simple letter, as follows:
Don’t write their name. Say something like “Dear Person” or “Good morning” or “Hello” as a greeting
Express, simply, your sympathy that they’re going through a hard time. (eg. “I’m sorry things are hard right now,” or some variation on that theme.)
Offer some tender words, or a line from a poem. (“Thus we sit, myself thinking / how grateful I am for the moon’s / perfect beauty and also, oh! how rich / it is to love the world.” Mary Oliver)
Tell them they don’t need to reply or get back to you.
Sign off affectionately, anonymously or with your name.
Now, you can give the letter to the person you were thinking about. Or you can leave the letter lying somewhere (coffee shop, bus stop, where a stranger can pick it up and read it. In which case you might address the envelope to “Dear person who finds this envelope.”
Repeat often.
