It was a wonderful 5th Annual Celebrate Life Soiree in our new house. And though it wasn’t a card writing themed event, since I’ve seen the very real power of cards, thank you notes and what messages of connection and gratitude sent to others can do for lifting someone’s heart or giving them strength, at the last-minute (in addition to the chocolate tasting and many other fun soiree activities I’d planned,) I decided to have some notecards on hand. So, I had blank cards and some simple thank you cards, as an afterthought on a small corner table, along with a container for pens and markers.
It was lovely to see that not only did a few people write cards about things they were celebrating in life and to others, but once all the guests had gone home, I found a few notes of gratitude left behind for me! It was fun to read these cards and I tucked them into the guest book where people had written their other various thoughts on celebrating life and goodness in their lives. So sweet. It never fails to make me happy when I feel appreciated by others and I think I’m not alone. And I love getting personal mail, whether snail mail or hand delivered!
In the past few months, I’ve gone to two events of the L.A. Pen Pal Club both dedicated to people writing letters or cards to others, (some have many pen pals and some like to write notes to friends and others.) From the few I’ve attended, I noticed it’s a calm, pleasant, evening, held at a beautiful stationary store in Glendale, California and I get some writing of missives off to friends and others. The fact that it’s a dedicated space for those who love the epistolary art scene is even more wonderful. There is limited seating space, so it’s a must to RSVP to get a spot to sit.
And I was thrilled to note that others there had also heard about the cool new thing the U.S. postal service is doing with scratch and sniff stamps! How fun 😊.
Everyone wants to feel connected to others. Recently, I led a workshop at a Papyrus store as a pre Mother’s Day Card Writing event, on The Art of Card & Letter Writing, and those who came were excited to have “card therapy” and to get ideas for what to write on both Mother’s Day cards and other occasion cards they might want to send, including sympathy, work colleagues’ birthdays and “I’d like to get back in touch,” (and not only via Facebook!) All kinds of questions were asked and answered.
That being said, who do you want to write to today? Though beautiful stationery or cards are always nice, they needn’t be fancy or handmade to touch someone else’s heart or to strike the right message you want to convey to another.
Go ahead and make someone else’s day and practice a little “card therapy” while you are at it. Send a note to another through snail mail, hand deliver it to them, post it to them via email or send via a carrier pigeon. Chances are both you as the sender and them as the receiver will both be enriched by the experience.
Who will you spread joy to today?
