Getting a note, card, or postcard in the mail today is a small gift of love.
Back in the day when cards cost a quarter and stamps were cheap, my friends and I shopped in real card shops for fun, bought cards for specific people, and mailed them out daily, weekly, or monthly. These actions were one of life's greatest pleasures......Sadly, it's now a lost art for most.
Postcards are the ultimate zero-ROI activity... no likes to count, no algorithm to feed, no sent folder to prove it happened. But the research on happiness keeps pointing to the same thing: relationships are what matter most. Maybe that's exactly why snail mail works. It's not performing connection, it's just doing it.
Fellow Gen X here. I grew up with real pen pals. I'd love to have that again. I might try post cards...
This is beautiful, especially the nuanced internal experience articulated so well (fellow Gen-X-er here). Very much resonated. Thanks for sharing (and for inspiring a return of the amazing postcard habit of the 1980s-200s). And -- I hope you do come across some of those old letters. In a recent basement cleaning, I came across a sealed box, and in it: bags (BAGS!) of letters to/from high school friends during an international exchange in Grade TEN. Whether or not any of those reappear for you, this practice is creating whole new threads - and is buoyed by those original beauties. Thanks again.
Thank you so much, Nadia. And that's such an exciting discovery! I hope mine do appear but I agree; the new threads are being created, and that makes me happy.
This has started my day off perfectly. As a person who has NEVER been on Facebook and can barely figure out what the hell anyone under 65 is talking about, I want to thank you for the inspiration. I had been toying with the idea of reviving old school written notes to people and you have given me the motivation. Where on earth will I find a wick and quill??? Have a great day.
I love this! It’s like a text but better. My brother told me I’m the last person in the US sending postcards, so I’d delighted to know that we’re in this together.
I love this so much! I just bought a box of 100 postcards with pictures from the different national parks and I wasn’t sure what I would do with them. Now I know! Yes, as a replacement for social media! Brilliant!
Getting a note, card, or postcard in the mail today is a small gift of love.
Back in the day when cards cost a quarter and stamps were cheap, my friends and I shopped in real card shops for fun, bought cards for specific people, and mailed them out daily, weekly, or monthly. These actions were one of life's greatest pleasures......Sadly, it's now a lost art for most.
Well I'm under no illusion that I can bring it back, but I'm having fun revisiting it. And living the life I want to live in the process.
That's what really matters!
Postcards are the ultimate zero-ROI activity... no likes to count, no algorithm to feed, no sent folder to prove it happened. But the research on happiness keeps pointing to the same thing: relationships are what matter most. Maybe that's exactly why snail mail works. It's not performing connection, it's just doing it.
Fellow Gen X here. I grew up with real pen pals. I'd love to have that again. I might try post cards...
This is beautiful, especially the nuanced internal experience articulated so well (fellow Gen-X-er here). Very much resonated. Thanks for sharing (and for inspiring a return of the amazing postcard habit of the 1980s-200s). And -- I hope you do come across some of those old letters. In a recent basement cleaning, I came across a sealed box, and in it: bags (BAGS!) of letters to/from high school friends during an international exchange in Grade TEN. Whether or not any of those reappear for you, this practice is creating whole new threads - and is buoyed by those original beauties. Thanks again.
Thank you so much, Nadia. And that's such an exciting discovery! I hope mine do appear but I agree; the new threads are being created, and that makes me happy.
Bravo!
This has started my day off perfectly. As a person who has NEVER been on Facebook and can barely figure out what the hell anyone under 65 is talking about, I want to thank you for the inspiration. I had been toying with the idea of reviving old school written notes to people and you have given me the motivation. Where on earth will I find a wick and quill??? Have a great day.
I love this! It’s like a text but better. My brother told me I’m the last person in the US sending postcards, so I’d delighted to know that we’re in this together.
Let's form a club! Or a gang :).
It’s fun to get mail since it does t happen very awful.
I love this so much! I just bought a box of 100 postcards with pictures from the different national parks and I wasn’t sure what I would do with them. Now I know! Yes, as a replacement for social media! Brilliant!
I love that! One of my best friends is a national park enthusiast and that would make her so happy.
Elizabeth, I have this box, too. The art on each one is so beautiful!