In today’s world, handwritten communication seems to have been forgotten while the number of text messages and emails received only increase. Hannah Brencher is determined to make communication less about efficiency, and more about taking the time to let someone know that you truly care. While battling depression in 2010, Brencher began leaving love letters for strangers throughout New York City, offering thoughtfully handwritten encouragement and support. Since then, Brencher has created the organization, The World Needs More Love Letters, which she describes as “a global love letter writing organization that harnesses the power behind social media to write and mail love letters to individuals across the globe.” According to Brencher, the organization’s goal is to “create the most miraculous experience for people when they need it most: hundreds of letters of support and encouragement showing up at someone’s door all because someone in their own life loved them enough to just ask for those love letters.”

In her TED Talk, Brencher explains how letter writing has become an art form, and we must treasure it. Brencher states, “The mere fact that somebody would just sit down, pull out a piece of paper, and think about someone the whole way through with an intention that is so much harder to unearth when the browser is up and the iPhone is pinging and we’ve got six conversations rolling in at once- that is an art form.” Brencher encourages her audience to hold onto this art form, and to share it with not only our brothers and sisters but strangers as well.

Watch Hannah Brencher’s TED Talk below, and learn more about her story and The World Needs More Love Letters at https://moreloveletters.squarespace.com