It's a Small World.

I'm sure you've figured out by now that I really enjoy this snail mail gig. It's been great to keep up with old friends and family members that I don't get to see as often as I'd like.

Not me.

After about a year I decided to branch out and write people I haven't met before. (After a Facebook stalking session, of course.) I've been really fortunate to get to know 5 (going on 6) wonderful women around the world. Yes, most of them are in my own country, but even so it's a big enough country that life can still be a little different from one state to the next.  I only have 2 overseas pen pals currently, and at first I thought I was pretty cool for having "foreign contacts" like I somehow compare to some sophisticated globe trotter and/or semi-psychotic secret agent super spy.

Me. (Minus the whiskers.)

In reality I know I'm just a girl who writes happy mail with cute little pictures and I'm neither sophisticated nor a butt-kicking CIA agent, but one of the biggest changes to my life from pen palling has been how I think about the world in general. It feels both a lot bigger and smaller at the same time. Bigger because there are a lot more people than I've previously given much thought to whose lives are very different from mine.  Smaller because there isn't as great as division as National Geographic sometimes makes me think there is. It's not just me, angry Middle Eastern residents, mysterious Tibetan monks, and  stick-through-the-nose African witch doctors. There are plenty of people out there who enjoy bird watching,  Harry Potter, and a good party; there are lots and lots of people that I probably wouldn't mind hanging out with.

When I made this map today I realized not only why my pal in Finland hasn't gotten my letter yet, but how much of the map is blank. Sure, parts of that blankness are where the monks and witch doctors live, but out of all of it that is probably a much smaller portion than I think.