when you want to send a card but you don’t know what to say
i love real mail.
maybe it’s old-fashioned – there are so many instantaneous ways to connect nowadays – but i don’t care.
there are so many things to love about real mail.
there is the tactile pleasure of pen on paper.
there is the singular script of the sender.
there is the non-immediacy of the arrival.
there is the surprise + delight of finding a hand-written envelope or postcard nestled amongst a stack of bills and junk mail and catalogs.
i would love to live in a world where our mailboxes are overflowing with beauty + love + connection.
maybe you would love to live in that world too.
maybe you really want to reach out to someone by way of a card or a letter or a postcard, but you just don’t know what to say.
for you, a list of ideas.
say what is true.
i love you.
i miss you.
i’m thinking about you.
i’m so glad you’re in my life.
i don’t know what to say, but i want you to know i care.
how are you? really? i want to know.
celebrate and appreciate them, and be specific.
i love you because ..
i appreciate the way you ..
i admire the way you ..
when i think of you, i think of someone who ..
tell them why you’re thinking about them.
remember when ..
i wish we could ..
i saw/heard/read/felt .. and it made me think of you.
you shared ___ and i can’t stop thinking about it and i wish we could sit down over coffee and talk about it and everything.
i saw your pictures of ___ and it made me smile/miss you/wish you were here.
share something you think they’d like.
a quote.
a song lyric.
a poem.
an article.
a comic strip.
tell them a tiny story about your day/life so they can share in it.
there is a pair of mourning doves on my patio. they visit every day. i named them harry & sally.
a nearby cafe has a sisu latte. it contains cardamon + cinnamon bun. i didn’t know there was cinnamon bun syrup. maybe it is an actual cinnamon bun? clearly i need to ask. when i think of sisu (it’s finnish), i think of grit, so i am glad to know there is sweetness in it too.
my nephew lars says happy now. he says happyhappyhappy at random intervals and it is just so sweet.
i was looking for a quick read when i found dr. laura’s book, the proper care & feeding of husbands, on the bookshelf. i know it seems crazy, but i read it and it reminded me of mama gena. is that crazy? maybe you shouldn’t answer that. maybe you should forget i told you this.
when in doubt, remember: honest + simple + straight from the heart.
you really can’t go wrong with that.
and as (one of my favorite imaginary mentors) augusten burroughs would say, “better the wrong words at the right time than the right words at the wrong time.”
here’s to reaching out.
with love.
in all ways.
oh, this is sweet, Elizabeth! I’m like you, I do for all the advances in technology and all the fun ways to connect digitally, there’s still nothing that quite compares to the sweet surprise of a card in the mail box with a caring/loving message. More mail, that’s what we need in the world! And you help with that–HOORAY!… and Thank you! :o) ((HUGS))
More mail is definitely what we need! I agree with you 100%.
the art of the letter.
and your true words!
and i love that picture. it reminds me of my mother and upstate new york.
i’ve never seen it before!
i keep getting the flowers and the ocean ones! and atlas of course!
just sent one of his off the other day to a friend. the one where he’s heading down the beach by himself… like he’s walking on a blue sand mirror! oh. love. love. love!
It was taken in New England! I never put this particular set in my shop; I either gave it as a gift or I sent it to a {happy surprise} card club recipient. Someday I will, though, because in looking at the photo, I remembered how much I loved this photo/set; it reminds me of comfort + simple pleasures + home.
I love this post. It makes me look forward even more to a letter from you some day.
I am looking forward to writing one!