Writing Myself A Love Letter

Have you ever sat down and written yourself a love letter?

Hmmm. I’ve written a letter to myself on a few occasions inside various journals I kept over the years. The first time I completed this task was when I attended my friend Betsy Self’s creative writing class Writing from the Heart at Temple University’s Pan-African Studies Continuing Education Program (PASCEP) back in the fall of 1999. The assignment we were given was to craft a letter to yourself at the end of your life about what you accomplished as a writer. Everybody wrote from the perspective of 20 to 40 years from now, depending upon their age. I couldn’t imagine that far into the future and wrote mine as if tomorrow would be my last day. That assignment was an interesting, introspective look into my passion and thoughts. I wound up taking Betsy’s exercise and revising it into an essay that appeared inside my first poetry collection Straight from My Heart.

I’ve also engaged in some writing prompts about self-love to improve self-esteem and/or reinforce self-confidence. To answer my original question, I don’t think so. I can’t recall if I did without perusing through my journal collection.

I think it’s a great idea for writers and non-writers to engage in this epistolary activity. Why? Examining your thoughts and feelings onto paper can be deep and frightening for some, but it can…