In the midst of the hustle and bustle of trying to find the “perfect” gift for every person in your life – whether you like them or not – there remains the most beautiful and simple gift one could receive… a Christmas card.
The way society is now, happy birthday messages are sent through text and gifts are bought off Amazon in a haste to “check off” the effort on our to-do list. But I have found for myself as I sit down to write out a Christmas card, all that changes. Call me mushy but it really gets me in all the feels. For that moment I am taken away from the hustle and bustle and forced to sit down with a pen and think about what I am going to say. I won’t be able to hit “edit” or delete it later. I can’t tag everyone at once to get it all out of the way. And as I sit I find that a rush of memories over the year comes to me instantly and you truly begin to realize how special and precious people are in your life.
I myself generally have quite a few boxes of different Christmas cards sprawled out in front of me and begin to choose from the one I believe fits the person I am writing to most. Because there is not a whole lot of space, your words have to be of purpose and special. As I was writing out Christmas cards to a few of my friends today, while listening to Christmas Jazz (because #vibes), I started to realize how little we genuinely tell our friends and family how much we love and appreciate them. I imagine them getting the card and for that quick little moment of reading it, they feel very special and loved. And couldn’t we all use that all the time!
Realistically I can’t say that I will find myself sitting down to write letters to my friends on a consistent basis. But there is a beauty to it where it becomes more special than a Merry Christmas text or Facebook post. It’s something they can keep forever and look over every year if they so choose. I keep almost all of my Christmas cards and it’s one of the things that brings me so much joy when I pull out all the Christmas decorations and there in a huge pile are all the cards we’ve received over the years. I can look back over them and see how my friends and family have grown. I’m reminded of the connections that maybe have been lost unintentionally over time and the connections that have grown much stronger throughout the year. It’s a wonderful feeling.
Now I’m not talking about grabbing a handful of cards and writing “Merry Christmas”, slapping a stamp on them and moving on – although I will admit that also takes a lot of effort these days! Rather think of it as in that little card is your opportunity to tell those you love how you feel about them and maybe even what you look forward to in the coming year. Especially with the year that 2020 has given us, many people could use something to look forward to. And although technology brings us together in many ways it equally has isolated us from each other.
As life quickly moves forward, I find comfort in some of the “old” ways of doing things. This is one of them. I hope all of you who read this will find the time to feed your soul with happy memories and sweet thoughts as you write out your best wishes to those special people in your life.
Happy Holidays!
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