I was reading this book ‘Post Script’ recently and I intended to finish this book in 2019, my last read for the year. However, I couldn’t and it spilled on to 2020. It was almost like the name, having read most of the book, what remained was something that could be written in Post Script.
It made me think about how there is always room for Post Script in any story, any conversation, any letter, and how sometimes the most important part is that small note in the end. I remember some letters exchanged over the years, which lose their entire worth without what’s written in PS. How, a simple ‘P.S. – I love you’, has the ability to change the entire tone and after effects of the letter. How sometimes, my eyes welled up not so much with the letter, but with what was written in as P.S.
This book spilling over into the new year felt like my very own epiphany. Universe’s way of telling me there is always more. The best laid plans might fail for something better. That last minute additions might turn out to be the star placing. A Post Script is an afterthought and an afterthought is infamous, has a bad rep; in a society which is obsessed with perfection, it is an abnormality, a mistake, almost a rebellious act. To some it may mean we were not well composed the first time around, an imperfection. But at the same time, in a society which is so high and mighty for the glorification of busy, how can we not have afterthoughts.
A Post Script could be something that you had the courage to write only when you reach the end. Sometimes, it’s written to soften the blow. Sometimes, it’s written to keep the conversation going and not make the letter look like a closure. And yet sometimes it is the end of that chapter of life; making place for a new beginning, which we can’t see at that moment. I find a P.S. note is more often than not, the most important part. In this case, it’s the after thought that counts.
The purpose of Post Script was to not have to write a letter all over again, because of what you may have missed out. When writing on a typewriter or by hand, it saved the task of starting all over again. In today’s world where everything from a picture, blog, vlog, email, v-mail is editable its not required technically. Yet due to its charm, I, for one think it will never go out of fashion. It’s a classic, which you must bring out time to time, and it shall never disappoint.
I, personally, am very fond of the small notes, post scripts, post-its, they spark joy, so to say. 🙂 and so I refuse to let them go! I love writing them and giving out as much as receiving them. The joy of giving equivalent in this case, if not more. For me, a post script note is the climax of the letter, and not the ‘yours truly’. I have always read a letter again after reading the post script note. It is also the part where I over think, read between the lines, search for more than there could be. A romantic at heart, I find often, those few lines speak more than they reveal at first glance. It’s like a surprise gift or like an extended ending for you to revel in.
After all, aren’t our favourite moments close to a goodbye. Isn’t the first kiss towards the end of the first date? Isn’t the most special hug saved for the farewell? Isn’t the last eye contact across the glass doors the most precious? Isn’t the goodnight kiss by a 3 year old, best way to call it a night? Isn’t it the post script that makes our heart skip a beat?
P.S. what’s unsaid, always echos.