I think it's safe to say we've established the fact I love writing.  I mean, as an author and a reporter my days are completely filled with what novelist James A. Michener called "the swirl and swing of words," so it would be quite unfortunate if I found the craft disdainful. Thankfully, that's not the case. I adore writing.

But more than just writing - writing books and writing articles - I love, love, love writing letters. Not emails, not Facebook messages or 140 character notes or silly little e-cards but letters; beautiful, romantic, old-fashioned letters. Letters that might be smudged with ink or blemished with a misspelled word that's been crossed out; letters on pretty stationary, perhaps spritzed with a favorite perfume; letters that need a stamp in the upper right hand corner and an address that doesn't end in .com. Letters that require our post offices remain open and help said offices do so ("the agency relies on the sales of stamps and other products, rather than taxpayer dollars, to fund its operations." –Reuters).

Some of my stationary collection

Yep. I love letters. And sending cards, too – for a specific purpose or no purpose at all, I buy cards just about every week. Hallmark is a favorite store of mine, and might I proudly add, I'm the Foursquare mayor of the one in town.

Additionally, I love making people happy. Sending a letter or a card simply for the sake of doing so is done less frequently than it once was. Due to this, the recipient of such an item tends to be extra appreciative. A letter or a card is like a smile inside an envelope. I'm a fan of sending smiles. And you know, sending smiles makes me smile in return.

So! Imagine my elation when earlier today I had yet another fantastic discovery (yesterday I learned about World Book Night). And here's what it comes down to: the world needs more love letters. Such a fact.

In October 2010, Hannah Brencher (@hannahkatyb) was sitting on a train in New York City when she decided to start writing letters to other people in transit – complete strangers.

"I was struggling to get out of bed every morning and I needed an escape from my own sadness and loneliness," she writes on her website. "So I began writing letters on the train to individuals who seemed like they, too, could use a boost. And it healed me. It really healed me," she said.

And from those thoughts and Brencher's initial notes, The World Needs More Love Letters was born in September 2011. It's a community of "love letter writers" - every day people who write letters and leave them in various places for strangers to find, or send them in to be included in a monthly "bundle of love letters" sent to people in need of a pick-me-up.

Since its inception, The World Needs More Love Letters has put more than 2,000 love letters out into the world, proving, as Brencher wrote, "that no matter how tough we act, we all still need a love letter from time to time. That even in a world crammed tight into 140 characters and constant status updates, there is still a great craving for the handwritten note."

This appeals to me on so many levels; the aforementioned love of writing letters for one and sending smiles for another, and the romantic in me loves the idea of leaving a note in a random spot for some unsuspecting person to discover – perhaps catching them at just the right moment.

Obviously, I was all for this as soon as I learned about it, and instantly got on board. You should too.

The mission is simple and beautiful: "to spread more love letters out into a world that so desperately needs them. Through writing, leaving and mailing love letters, we are learning to turn our words into lanterns to light the paths of others."

Visit www.moreloveletters.com for more information and to sign up for the monthly Love Letter Alert List. Or, just get to it – write a love letter and leave it at a coffee shop, library, bus station, grocery store, bathroom or anywhere else you can think of to "love letter your world."

Seriously, you can't go wrong with this.