WHY I BOTHER…

It’s a project. I get it. Many people think about the amount of cards received and say, “Hey, I’m good.  People just don’t do this any more.” In my age bracket (40-45) hardly any of my friends send out cards. Typically any cards I get from my sista girls are the ones who send photos of their children. The cards that are fun to see and you say, “Wow so-and-so is getting so big!” Those are the cards where you see joy with your eyes and remember what it was like to see those faces. 

What of the cards where you see joy with your soul?

The ones that have messages and imagery that magically take you to a place of spirit. The ones that somehow transport your essence and remind someone not just what you look like, but what having you in their life feels like?

That’s why I “Just Do It” year after year. I want to connect with friends and family, especially the ones who have not had a chance to feel my spirit in a while. I use it as a tool to CONNECT in a time when social media and devices and virtual e-cards have given the capacity to expand your reach in the most unconnected kind of way. I know that while many don’t send cards themselves, they do enjoy receiving them. It gives them a human connection and lets them know someone cares enough. That’s what makes it time well spent. That’s my WHY.

I KNOW IT WILL BRIGHTEN SOMEONE’S HOLIDAY…

Who doesn’t like getting a personalized greeting, right? I’d venture to say just about everyone. (I can even see ol’ Grinchy secretly taping his cards up on the mantle, if he received any). What I don’t know when I send is who the person is that really needed a special gesture this year. Who is the person feeling down, just ready to start a new year, feeling alone and unseen. No matter what the situation may be I know that there is someone who’s holiday was made just a little brighter. That’s my WHY.

MAKE THEIR MAILBOX HAPPY…

Yet another WIN for card sending. I find myself going to my mailbox less and less. Nowadays boxes are jam packed with nothing but solicitations. Unless it’s election time. Then it’s solicitations of a different kind.  Just me?  Aside from your birthday December is usually the only other time of year when mailboxes are brightened with colored envelopes and deliver more than just bills and flyers. If I can have a hand in filling a box with just a little joy, giving a reason to actually open it up, then I feel my job for the season is done.  That’s my WHY.

STAY IN TOUCH…

The biggest WHY is because it only takes a moment, a stamp, but the lasting impact will bring me closer to my friends and family. It’s true in all years but especially these last two of working from home, limited trips, cancelled plans… Continuous ambiguity of when normalcy will return. I send cards because dozens of people and families will remain in my proverbial grasp. My own worldwide web mixed with high school, college, neighbors, friends I just shared a bite with and cousins I may not have seen in years goes off the grid for just a bit. Just long enough to take a digital pause and go back to the days when reaching out took some well earned effort. I send a piece of myself in each card in hopes to spread reminders for the reason of the season. To celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. To remind one another of what it means to have peace and appreciation. To remember the greatest gifts of all. Each other. That is my ultimate WHY.

Find your WHY this season… May it fill your own soul with altruistic joy as you touch someone else’s.

Shades of Color Designer African American Art Christmas Collection

– Written by Janine Kai Robinson