How many cards did you receive in 2011? A birthday wish, a merry Christmas, maybe even a get well soon, accompanied by a pretty picture and a signed name?
Do you remember as primary school ended for the year, Christmas cards would be exchanged amongst ten year olds at rapid rate, with everyone in the class often receiving an abundance of cardboard cheer? I received my fair share, but I don’t recall the cards ever saying more than, “To Lauren. Merry Christmas. From classmate” (unless they were written by a best friend at the time). Maybe that says more about who I was in primary school rather than the peers who lacked more creative words.
Whenever I receive a card with an impersonal and generic message I feel incredibly ripped off, even if the card accompanied a nice present. It’s because I like nice words but also because what’s the point of giving someone a card to celebrate an occasion if you’re not going to say anything meaningful at all? Save your $4.99 and add the cost to the gift if you don’t have much more to say than, “Congratulations on your pregnancy.”
Cards seem to be the expected thing to commemorate a particular event or occurrence. Weddings, birthdays, newborn babies, Christmas, illness. It’s a lovely way to document memory and remember who shared particular moments of your life with you. I have shoeboxes filled with old cards – I never throw them out. Every now and then I will look through them and remember the people I may no longer be in contact with, and recall the events of the day that the particular card was gifted to me and try to decipher what once where personal jokes. They bring me a contented reminiscence. The cards that give me that feeling are the ones that had effort poured into the words. The generic words don’t mean a thing.
Writing a card isn’t just for now. When that person looks back in one, or five or even twenty years at the cards from their engagement party how do you want to be remembered? That you didn’t even care enough to write something from the heart?
I think cards mean so much more when they’re not for anything in particular. Not a “thankyou” for the meal, not a “congratulations” for the wedding, not a “sorry” for their loss. While those things have good intention, just nice words to someone you care about it, for no reason at all, could have such greater impact. But then I suppose that’s not even a card anymore – it’s a note.
So seeing it’s holidays I’ve been thinking maybe I’ll start writing cards. To people I appreciate, just for no reason at all. And I’ll make sure they say more than, “You’re cool!” Wanna join me?
Read more by Lauren
Read more by Lauren
