TED@New York
Hannah Brencher: Love letters to strangers
Hannah Brencher: Kærlighedsbreve til fremmede.
Filmed:
Readability: 3.5
2,170,009 views
Hannah Brenchers mor skrev altid breve til hende. Så da hun fandt sig selv på bunden af en depression efter college, gjorde hun det første som slog hende ind -- hun skrev kærlighedsbreve og efterlod dem dem hvor enhver kunne finde dem. Dette er blevet til at globalt initiativ, "Verden har brug for flere kærlighedsbreve", hvilket haster håndskrevne breve til dem der mangler et kærligt puf.
Hannah Brencher - Letter enthusiast
Hannah Brencher believes in the power of pen and paper, and has started a global initiative that encourages strangers to exchange love letters. Full bio
Hannah Brencher believes in the power of pen and paper, and has started a global initiative that encourages strangers to exchange love letters. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:15
I was one of the only kids in college who had a reason
0
42
2749
Jeg var en af de eneste elever i college, der havde en grund
00:18
to go to the P.O. box at the end of the day,
1
2791
2565
til at gå til dueslaget ved enden af dagen,
00:21
and that was mainly because my mother has never believed
2
5356
2352
og det var for det meste på grund af at min mor aldrig har troet
00:23
in email, in Facebook, in texting or cell phones in general.
3
7708
3677
på email, Facebook, sms'er, eller mobiltelefoner.
00:27
And so while other kids were BBM-ing their parents,
4
11385
2555
I det andre børn "BBMede" deres forældre,
00:29
I was literally waiting by the mailbox
5
13940
3141
stod jeg bogstaveligt talt og ventede ved postkassen
00:32
to get a letter from home to see how the weekend had gone,
6
17081
2688
på at brevet hvori min mor skrev hvordan weekenden var gået skulle ankomme,
00:35
which was a little frustrating when Grandma was in the hospital,
7
19769
2388
hvilket var frustrerende da min bedstemor var på hospitalet,
00:38
but I was just looking for some sort of scribble,
8
22157
4345
men jeg ventede bare på den lille hilsen
00:42
some unkempt cursive from my mother.
9
26502
2631
skrevet i min mors kragetæer.
00:45
And so when I moved to New York City after college
10
29133
2405
Så da jeg flyttede til New York efter college
00:47
and got completely sucker-punched in the face by depression,
11
31538
2960
og blev slået hovedkulds ud i en depression
00:50
I did the only thing I could think of at the time.
12
34498
2752
gjorde jeg det eneste jeg det første som slog mig ind.
00:53
I wrote those same kinds of letters that my mother had written me
13
37250
3012
Jeg skrev breve i stil med min mors
00:56
for strangers, and tucked them all throughout the city,
14
40262
3413
til fremmede, og efterladte dem
00:59
dozens and dozens of them. I left them everywhere,
15
43675
2843
i bunkevis overalt i byen.
01:02
in cafes and in libraries, at the U.N., everywhere.
16
46518
4202
I caféer og på biblioteker, ved FN, overalt.
01:06
I blogged about those letters and the days
17
50720
2055
Jeg bloggede om disse breve og de dage
01:08
when they were necessary, and I posed
18
52775
1974
hvor de viste sig nødvendige, og jeg gav
01:10
a kind of crazy promise to the Internet:
19
54749
2663
et rimeligt skørt løfte på internettet:
01:13
that if you asked me for a hand-written letter,
20
57412
2386
At hvis man bad mig om et hånd-skrevet brev,
01:15
I would write you one, no questions asked.
21
59798
3321
ville jeg skrive dig et, uden at stille spørgsmål.
01:19
Overnight, my inbox morphed into this harbor of heartbreak --
22
63119
4076
Natten over forvandledes min indbakke til banegård for hjertebrud --
01:23
a single mother in Sacramento, a girl being bullied
23
67195
2691
en enlig mor i Sacramento, en pige fra landet i Kansas
01:25
in rural Kansas, all asking me, a 22-year-old girl
24
69886
3920
som blev mobbet, alle bad mig, en 22-årig pige
01:29
who barely even knew her own coffee order,
25
73806
2646
som knap nok kendte sin egen baghave,
01:32
to write them a love letter and give them a reason
26
76452
2546
om at skrive dem et kærestebrev og give dem en grund
01:34
to wait by the mailbox.
27
78998
2329
til at vente ved postkassen.
01:37
Well, today I fuel a global organization
28
81327
2824
Og i dag står jeg bag en global organisation
01:40
that is fueled by those trips to the mailbox,
29
84151
2676
op-bakket af af disse postkassebesøg,
01:42
fueled by the ways in which we can harness social media
30
86827
2630
ved hjælp af alle de måder vi kan drage nytte af sociale medier
01:45
like never before to write and mail strangers letters
31
89457
3490
til at skrive og afsende breve til fremmede
01:48
when they need them most, but most of all,
32
92947
2857
i nød, men frem for alt
01:51
fueled by crates of mail like this one, my trusty mail crate,
33
95804
3296
drives vi af kasser som denne, min trofaste kasse
01:55
filled with the scriptings of ordinary people,
34
99100
4240
fyldt med beskeder fra hvem som helst,
01:59
strangers writing letters to other strangers not because
35
103340
2701
breve skrevet af fremmede, til fremmede, ikke fordi
02:01
they're ever going to meet and laugh over a cup of coffee,
36
106041
2791
de nogensinde vil mødes og hygge sig over en kop kaffe,
02:04
but because they have found one another by way of letter-writing.
37
108832
3612
men fordi de har fundet hinanden ved hjælp af breve.
02:08
But, you know, the thing that always gets me
38
112444
1514
Men det der altid slår mig
02:09
about these letters is that most of them have been written
39
113958
3536
ved de her breve er, at de fleste af dem er skrevet
02:13
by people that have never known themselves loved on a piece of paper.
40
117494
4704
af folk som aldrig selv har følt kærligheden fra et brev.
02:18
They could not tell you about the ink of their own love letters.
41
122198
3705
De kunne ikke fortælle dig om ordene i deres egne kærlighedsbreve.
02:21
They're the ones from my generation,
42
125903
1869
Det er dem fra min generation,
02:23
the ones of us that have grown up into a world
43
127772
2866
dem som er vokset op i en
02:26
where everything is paperless, and where some
44
130638
3083
papirløs verden, hvor nogle af
02:29
of our best conversations have happened upon a screen.
45
133721
3062
vores bedste samtaler foregik på en skærm.
02:32
We have learned to diary our pain onto Facebook,
46
136783
2358
Vi har lært at dele vores smerter på Facebook,
02:35
and we speak swiftly in 140 characters or less.
47
139141
4290
og vi bruger ikke mere end 140 tegn.
02:39
But what if it's not about efficiency this time?
48
143431
2672
Men hvad nu hvis det nu ikke handler om effektivitet?
02:42
I was on the subway yesterday with this mail crate,
49
146103
2829
I går var jeg med metroen sammen med min kasse,
02:44
which is a conversation starter, let me tell you.
50
148932
2406
hvilket virkelig starter sammentaler, kan jeg godt sige jer,
02:47
If you ever need one, just carry one of these. (Laughter)
51
151338
2309
hvis i nogensinde har brug for en, så gå bare rundt men sådan en her.
02:49
And a man just stared at me, and he was like,
52
153647
2833
Og en mand stirrede bare på mig, og spurgte:
02:52
"Well, why don't you use the Internet?"
53
156480
2489
"Jamen, hvorfor bruger du ikke bare internettet?"
02:54
And I thought, "Well, sir, I am not a strategist,
54
158969
3473
Og jeg tænkte bare, "Men hr., jeg er ikke nogen strateg,
02:58
nor am I specialist. I am merely a storyteller."
55
162442
3766
heller ikke en specialist. Jeg er bare en fortæller."
03:02
And so I could tell you about a woman
56
166208
2681
Jeg kunne fortælle dig om en kvinde
03:04
whose husband has just come home from Afghanistan,
57
168889
2910
hvis mand lige var hjemvendt fra Afghanistan,
03:07
and she is having a hard time unearthing this thing called conversation,
58
171799
3546
hun havde svært ved at genoplive det med af have samtaler,
03:11
and so she tucks love letters throughout the house
59
175345
2460
så hun lægger små kærlighedsbreve rundt omkring i huset
03:13
as a way to say, "Come back to me.
60
177805
2128
som en måde at sige, "Kom tilbage til mig.
03:15
Find me when you can."
61
179933
1558
Find mig når du kan."
03:17
Or a girl who decides that she is going to leave love letters
62
181491
2922
Eller om en pige som har besluttet sig for at efterlade kærlighedsbreve
03:20
around her campus in Dubuque, Iowa, only to find
63
184413
3259
på hendes kollegium i Dubuque, Iowa, og derefter
03:23
her efforts ripple-effected the next day when she walks out
64
187672
3053
for at opdage næste dag hvordan da hun går ud
03:26
onto the quad and finds love letters hanging
65
190725
2135
i gården og finder kærlighedsbreve hængende
03:28
from the trees, tucked in the bushes and the benches.
66
192860
4113
fra træer, gemt i buskene og på bænkene.
03:32
Or the man who decides that he is going to take his life,
67
196973
3033
Eller om manden, der ville gøre en ende på det hele,
03:35
uses Facebook as a way to say goodbye
68
200006
3139
som brugte facebook til at sige farvel
03:39
to friends and family.
69
203145
1353
til venner og familie.
03:40
Well, tonight he sleeps safely with a stack of letters
70
204498
2570
I nat sover han trygt med en stak breve
03:42
just like this one tucked beneath his pillow,
71
207068
3217
som denne, gemt under hovedpuden,
03:46
scripted by strangers who were there for him when.
72
210285
3319
skrevet af fremmede som da var der for ham.
03:49
These are the kinds of stories that convinced me
73
213604
2365
Sådanne historier overbeviste mig
03:51
that letter-writing will never again need to flip back her hair
74
215969
2846
at brevskrivning aldrig igen behøves at blive set ned på
03:54
and talk about efficiency, because she is an art form now,
75
218815
3605
eller belært om effektivitet, fordi hun er nu en kunstform,
03:58
all the parts of her, the signing, the scripting, the mailing,
76
222420
3393
alle dele af hende, underskriften, skriveriet, afsendingen,
04:01
the doodles in the margins.
77
225813
2538
krusedullerne i marginerne.
04:04
The mere fact that somebody would even just sit down,
78
228351
3134
Den simple viden om at nogen ville sætte sig ned,
04:07
pull out a piece of paper and think about someone
79
231485
1667
finde et stykke papir frem og tænke på nogen
04:09
the whole way through, with an intention that is so much
80
233152
2646
til vejs ende, med en intention langt sværere
04:11
harder to unearth when the browser is up and the iPhone
81
235798
3230
at finde frem når browseren er åben eller når telefonen
04:14
is pinging and we've got six conversations rolling in at once,
82
239028
3527
meddeler at vi har seks samtaler kørende på en gang,
04:18
that is an art form
83
242555
1435
en kunstform
04:19
that does not fall down to the Goliath of "get faster,"
84
243990
3175
som ikke bliver formindsket til et simpelt "bliv hurtigere",
04:23
no matter how many social networks we might join.
85
247165
2872
uanset hvor mange sociale medier vi tilslutter os.
04:25
We still clutch close these letters to our chest,
86
250037
2845
Vi holder os stadig nært disse breve,
04:28
to the words that speak louder than loud,
87
252882
2634
disse ord der taler højere end højt
04:31
when we turn pages into palettes to say the things
88
255516
2357
når vi forvandler papirer til lærreder for at sige de ting
04:33
that we have needed to say,
89
257873
1566
som vi har manglet at sige,
04:35
the words that we have needed to write, to sisters
90
259439
2688
de ord vi har manglet at skrive, til søstre
04:38
and brothers and even to strangers, for far too long.
91
262127
3522
til brødre, selv til fremmede, i alt for lang tid.
04:41
Thank you. (Applause)
92
265649
3566
Mange tak.
04:45
(Applause)
93
269215
3247
(klapsalve)
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Hannah Brencher - Letter enthusiastHannah Brencher believes in the power of pen and paper, and has started a global initiative that encourages strangers to exchange love letters.
Why you should listen
Hannah Brechner has always loved that her family communicates via handwritten letters. In October of 2010, she began writing love letters intended for strangers and tucking them away in libraries and cafes across New York City, for people to randomly discover. Soon, she offered on her blog HannahBrencher.com to write a letter to anyone who needed one. Over the next year, she mailed out more than 400 hand-penned letters. Today she runs The World Needs More Love Letters, a letter exchange dedicated to connecting strangers across the globe through the art of letter writing.
In addition, Brencher works as a copywriter and creative consultant, helping brands inject human touches into their communications plans.
Hannah Brencher | Speaker | TED.com