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des pensées pour toi
Des pensées pour toi is a collective project based in Aarau, Switzerland, that invites people to send a letter or postcard to their deceased loved ones. Writing a letter is an intimate way of engaging with grief. Inspired by the Postal Service for the Dead in the United States, the aim is
to create an open and accessible project around grief. Based in Switzerland, this multilingual project allows participants to write in their own language. In addition to letters and postcards, the project also welcomes written memories, poems, screenshots, voicenotes, images,
photographs, or any other format that can be sent by post or by email.
While no letter can heal the immense loss we have experienced, sharing our love, grief, pain
and memories may offer a quiet form of comfort. I remember my mother saying, ‘Ein geteiltes Leid ist ein halbes Leid’ (‘A sorrow shared is a sorrow halved’) while she was in hospital this past May.
Project Background
Following my mother’s death in August,
I explored the resources available to people experiencing significant loss.
In Switzerland, I found “Café Deuil” and “Trauer Cafés” in many regions. These are grief support groups that meet regularly and offer a space for mourners to gather and share their experiences. I also found organisations that provide bereaved people with meals.
The importance of community care became particularly apparent to me when friends and family showed up with home-cooked meals, groceries or food delivery vouchers; offered lifts; walked the dog; folded my family’s laundry; or simply vacuumed the apartment, all without being asked.
Alongside these local resources,
I came across other ways of dealing with grief online. One of these was the Postal Service for the Dead, based in Los Angeles, United States. This project seemed like an accessible way to express my grief.
How it works
Des pensées pour toi simply provides a postal addres and an email address. Over the course of one year, letters will be collected as a form of exploration, with no predetermined objective regarding what will be done with the material or the feedback received. Perhaps nothing will be done with them, except to create a safe space in which to write to our loved ones. Or maybe it will be a collection of letters that participants choose to share. Des pensées pour toi is conceived as an open and accessible project with no profit motive. There is no selection, judgement or expectation regarding what participants should write or how they should write it. Every contribution is equally valid.
The project is primarily intended for people living in Switzerland and neighbouring countries, but is always open to anyone who feels addressed by the gesture.
Project Overview
Taking inspiration from the Postal Service for the Dead, the contents of the letters will remain private by default.
Participants may indicate their preference by marking the envelope with either a heart (to keep the letter private) or a circle (to allow the letter to potentially be opened and shared, for example through publication or photography, should anything be done with the letters).