One coffee shop in Paris asks its customers to write a special letter — to their future selves — whenever they visit.
Guests at Café Pli can choose from a selection of papers, envelopes and writing prompts before sitting down to write this letter.
The café website offers examples for manifesting the future, whether that might be dreams, decisions or milestones. Once written, the letter is sealed, stored by the café, and sent back to the writer on a chosen future date ― maybe in months, a year, five or even 25 years later.
Addressing a “Dear Me” letter is not just the fashion in Paris.
A Space Filled With You and other cafés in Seoul, South Korea, are built around the same reflective ritual where visitors are invited to write letters to their future selves or to loved ones, with delivery scheduled months or years ahead.
If a visit to Paris or Seoul is not in cards, the idea of slowing down and writing letters is encouraged on World Letter Writing Day.
Observed every Sept. 1, the day encourages the timeless practice of writing letters by hand to connect with friends, family — or even strangers.
The day was established in 2014 by Richard Simpkin, an Australian photographer and author, who was inspired by the handwritten letters he received during his “Australian Legends” project.
The Australia-based group Eastern Suburb Moms maintains a website that promotes World Letter Writing Day and offers tips about writing letters for the day and for other occasions.
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