The other day I was thrilled to read an article about the resurgence of vinyl records, postcards and print books in the Millenial generation. After all the “OK Boomer” memes, it was nice to think that we had some territory in common… an appreciation of the technologies available to us now, but also a conscious decision to spend less time in the technological world in order to find a way to remain a bit more…well, human. Investing in experiences, enjoying meals together that last more than 15 minutes, spending some time together without an agenda…and writing.
I love perusing the letters my great-grandmother wrote to my mother, and sifting through my grandmother’s memorabilia – Hospital Auxiliary programs, used ration books from WW2, clipped articles and recipes from the newspaper. Holding cards that my relatives wrote creates a tangibility I don’t find anywhere else, a connection to the person I loved but probably barely knew due to the differences in our ages.
I have fretted that with our mobile society, with email and text messages, we are losing that ability to connect on a personal level as well as losing that permanent record of a life well lived. How many of us have thousands and thousands of digital photographs “somewhere”, but very few that are in print or in an album or book. Who is going to be able to locate and identify these digital records and put dates to them? Who does the new baby look like? AI can only do so much – and if the records aren’t available on the internet and the names aren’t provided, the AI can’t find them. And although I am sure people enjoy getting happy birthday greetings via Facebook, I remember people telling me they turned off their Facebook page around their birthdays. Too many birthday greetings were ‘blowing up’ their phone…but how many of them are from REAL friends?
I enjoyed the anticipation when I went to check the mailbox, especially around my birthday. My grandfather was a great correspondent and I had a few pen pals. Was the stamp an unusual one I should save? Were there questions in there that I needed to answer? It was 5 minutes of hope and excitement that someone had taken the time to write to me, that I was special to them – and especially nice as we were a military family, and often in a new locale with new neighbors and classmates.
This year I have been on a quest to send birthday and anniversary cards to everyone I have stored in my calendar. The cards themselves are not unique; I have around 300 events to honor so I decided I would find some bulk cards, but write an actual letter in the card as my grandfather had done. It’s been a lot of fun for me, and I have been very surprised to get numerous thank you notes for the cards…something I did not anticipate. It IS fun to go to the mailbox and find something other than a political flyer, bill or catalog. Brighten someone’s day and send them a card, and share a little about your day. Honestly, I literally write about nothing. I saw a robin pulling a worm out of the ground. Did you know today was National Pig Day. My garden is covered with cicadas. It’s not WHAT you write. It’s that you DO write that counts, that you are sharing a little time with them.
I started the quest in November, so I have four more months to go to complete the year’s quest. I suspect I will keep doing it. Cards have very little space to fill in so the letter is of necessity short (although I do tend to fill in all blank spaces)…and its a very inexpensive way to brighten someone else’s day. Pick the cards up at the Dollar Store, or the thrift store or look for bulk cards like corporations use online. Granted, postage is not free…but still, if you work at it, you can do it for about $1 a person. It’s totally worth it.