Love notes with Melanie Knight, founder Dead Letter Club

She considers herself as Melbourne’s cheerleader for art, creativity and positive expression, building creative interventions in a world that seems intent on stunting creativity in our daily lives. Why? Because as the founder of Creative Social Movements she wants to inspire people and nurture their ability to trust themselves and explore their creative writing styles. Beyond that, she is able to share the love because she exists within it.

We invited Melanie to answer some cheeky love prompts (creatively and in writing, because that’s what she does);

Once love is created it can’t be destroyed, it just changes shape.  Friendship, hate – whatever it might be – we have control, and so although it might hurt for a time, it can still be love.

What are some of your favourite love songs? Oh, they are all connected to special memories, songs are magic for that. The Dirtbombs do a fantastic cover of Do You See My Love for You Growing by Jr Walker & The All Stars. It has a cowbell! My partner and I first connected in a car trip coming home from a big camping festival. Van Morrison‘s Moondance kept playing and I for the life of me kept forgetting and kept bugging him to remind me [what it was]. We were destined for each other from that moment. And, to throw in a letter writing pick, you can’t beat Please Mr. Postman.

Have you ever broken someone’s heart? I believe I have, because they told me. They broke mine too. There isn’t love without hurt. I do know however, that once love is created it can’t be destroyed, it just changes shape.  Friendship, hate, whatever it might be we have control and so although it might hurt for a time it can still be love.

How do you recover from a broken heart? Writing letters and journalling is like balm for me. Whenever something hurts, I write… streams and streams of things that make no sense until something happens.  I begin to make sense of it, or writing it makes it smaller and further away.  I’ve turned it into a little piece of time captured on the paper and free’d up space in my mind and heart.

Whenever something hurts, I write. Writing it makes it smaller and further away.

If you were doing karaoke on V Day, what would you sing? Billy Joel‘s The Longest Time, so I can pull a bunch of friends up to join in the chorus!

What was the last romantic gesture you made to someone? I feel terribly guilty that I haven’t been very romantic for the last 2 years (Mum life!).  We had a difficult pregnancy and there were a few powerful moments.  Ritual is a big part of our lives, on the morning of a particularly nerve-wracking hospital visit I gave my partner a pot plant of violets as a symbol of hope. We now have a healthy 2 year old named Violet.

What is the most beautiful thing someone has ever made you? My partner wrote a book of songs about me, us and our daughter. They are divine and one day I hope he’ll record them for the world to listen.

My partner wrote a book of songs about me, us and our daughter.

TGW: How many messages is too many before you head into stalker territory? Ha!  I really think the amount of messages a person can tolerate is a litmus test of how you feel about that person. If you’re not so keen on them then you tolerate far less than the person you are all gooey over and can never get enough attention from!

TGW:  How do you think we can make love last in the modern era? I don’t think we should force love to last as some of our grandparents may have, but I do think the modern era has partly eroded our patience and our ability to be with the discomfort that inevitably happens in long term relationships.

I don’t think we should force love to last as some of our grandparents may have, but I do think the modern era has partly eroded our patience and our ability to be with the discomfort that inevitably happens in long term relationships.

How will you spend Valentine’s Day? Hopefully the love letters I’ve written will arrive to my family and I’ll get to see their faces. We’ll probably end up down the road on the hill watching the sunset over the water. Pretty bloody wonderful.

About Dead Letter Club

We use Twitter, text, snapchat, emojis, tinder, like buttons and canned responses as a way to communicate our thoughts and feelings. What can be the result of this instant communication on our relationships, memories and creativity?

Dead Letter Club is a high concept game that encourages a response and a call to restore balance to lives being lived through a little screen and a scrolling thumb.

In 2018 DLC toured around Australia and was featured in Frankie Magazine, MSN News, and collaborated with Brisbane Museum and Melbourne Writers Festival. In 2019 DLC goes global in response to the messages received from people around the world.  DLC will become the slow communication revolution with Chapters in cities across the globe.

Dead Letter Club helps you find that time to be creative. To stop and be commitment free. No more stuckness, anxiety, blockages, and procrastination.

Dead Letter Club at Melbourne Writers Festival from Melanie Knight on Vimeo.