Do you regularly receive personal correspondence via the postal service?...I receive a lot of mail...most of which is personalized...but little of which is personal...
As the holiday season approaches, I go to the mailbox with an extra spring in my step...it's the only time of year I feel this sense of anticipation...the feeling of wonder is present...even though the number of greeting cards I find has been dwindling each year...
Whether it's people going green (I tried that one year, but I just wasn't ready)...or being too busy...or having only electronic contact information (I can't count the number of people for whom I have only email addresses)...there just aren't as many holiday cards in my mailbox these days...
So I treasure each and every one I do receive...and make an elaborate ritual out of opening the precious contents...I carefully sort holiday cards to a separate pile from the rest of the mail...a pile where they wait to be savored...where they remain unopened until I've first handled everything mundane...
Many things get shredded without being opened...I made the mistake earlier this year of making a donation to Vidal Sassoon's foundation in the name of my hairdresser...now my mailbox is full of items seeking donations for every Jewish charity on the planet...then there are things like bills and bank statements that get paid, scanned and filed away...
But the pieces of mail that resemble greeting cards receive very special care...I use a letter opener on them...guaranteed to prevent damage, I slit open the long edge of each envelope....exposing its contents...and, yes, I do peek...but I don't actually open one until all of them have been unsealed...
Then I examine each envelope with great appreciation...for the handwriting on the outside that ensured its prompt arrival...for the stamp carefully affixed "forever"...for the return address to identify the sender...about the only way I obtain physical addresses for people (I never think to ask...do you?)...
I imagine with great tenderness everyone and everything that contributed to the greeting...the designers who used their imaginations and creativity to produce something unique and beautiful...the trees that provided their fiber...the inks that gave them color and vibrancy...the printers who ensured the plates and registration were perfect...the folders who fitted the envelope just so...the postal sorters and carriers who delivered it...
And especially the sender...for thinking of me...for including a special handwritten note...for knowing the delight I would feel on receiving it...
As I address each cards I'll be sending this year...I am using the same careful attention and care...I am appreciating the many beings that will handle each one...who will make sure it arrives at its intended destination...and I am imagining the great delight my friends and family will feel on being remembered with deep love this holiday season...
And if for some reason your expected card from me fails to arrive this year...please don't hesitate to email me your mailing address...
Leftover Valentine's Day stamps...the perfect "forever" postage for holiday cards...spreading love wherever they go...