Day 8’s Joy – Snailmail
When I started this challenge I created a list of things that I know bring
me joy, so that if I was struggling on a day to find something I could just go
to my list. One of the first things I wrote
on that list was sending and receiving real letters and postcards. Yesterday’s joy was all about both of these.
At the start of 2018 I made a goal to send something in the mail every
week. The plan has been to send notes,
cards, or whatever else I can think of, out to friends and family. By the end of the year I want to have mailed at least 52 items. Once this goal was known, one
of my friends suggested that I also checkout the website postcrossing.com. Now between these two things, sending and receiving
real letters and postcards have become a very important part of my world and
always bring me joy. Yesterday I got to
enjoy both sides of this hobby, the sending and receiving.
In order to keep addresses safer on postcrossing they limit your access
to getting addresses. There are limits
around how many postcards you can have travelling at a time but as your
postcards are received you are able to request new addresses. Yesterday I was lucky enough to have had
three cards received over the weekend so I got to sit down in the morning and
write three new ones. I love the whole process, everything from picking out the
perfect postcard to send to trying to decide what to write to picking out some
fun stickers to add. It makes me feel
amazing to know I’m sending some smiles and love out into the world. I might not know the people I’m sending
postcards to but I know (hope) I will be responsible for bringing a smile to
their face and that is pretty special.
The flipside of sending postcards is that I also get postcards
back. Every day as I drive home from
work I start to wonder if I will find anything in my mailbox. Most days the answer is no but usually at
least once a week or so I will have postcards waiting for me. Yesterday I was blessed enough not only to
have two new postcrossing postcards but I also a real letter from a friend that
has now become a pen pal thanks to my 2018 goal. Just opening the mailbox and pulling those
out is enough to make any day better.
In a desire to extend the joy I get from mail, early on I started a bit of
a ritual around reading them. They get
put on my computer in my living while I get settled for the evening. I will usually make a cup of tea (or if it’s
hot something cold) to drink and then I settle on the couch to read the
notes and relax after a day of work. It is always interesting to read
and hear about the different things people want to share. After reading the notes I spend a little time
really looking at the postcards. I will
often do a little google searching to learn more about the images or the
countries the postcards have come from. Then
finally I will register the postcards as being received which is also my chance
to send a little note thanking the sender for the card.
I didn’t know how much I would love this new hobby but it thrills me. I have been blessed to be able to have had 29 of my postcards so far reach their intended recipients. I
have also been lucky enough to have received 33 cards from all over the world. That is already a lot of smiles and joy being put out into our universe. In a world full of email and text messages, I
feel like we are losing the special connection that comes from having a letter
or note that you can physically touch.
Maybe I’m crazy but I know for me I will always find joy in getting to
send out and receiving real mail.
Find something you love and throw yourself in to it, you won’t be
disappointed.
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