When I was a girl my mother insisted that I write thank you notes each time I received a gift. While I’m forever grateful for her attentiveness to such matters of etiquette, I have to admit that the receipt of a gift carried with it a bit of dread. I’m pretty sure that I didn’t write a thank you note for each gift I received. I’m very certain that I hated writing the ones that I did write. Mass production of “Thank you so much for the pretty stationery and the cute dog figurine. I will enjoy using the stationery and the dog looks really cute on my dresser. Love, Jane”… Dread! I’m getting that feeling of insufficient drudgery right now, as I’m writing this….I’m pretty sure I’m even turning up my lip a little bit. Not that I’m not grateful for receiving gifts, but the note-writing, in itself, was always such a chore.
Well, I’ve matured into the whole note-writing thing. I like to write, and I adore stationery. So now, 35 years later, I find myself actually wanting to write hand-written notes to people that I care about, for no reason at all, other than to tell them that I’ve been thinking about them, that they’ve made a difference in my life, or that I love them. I don’t, however, write notes as often as I’d like to, nor do I actually put them in the mailbox (I’ll explain that in a minute). Thus, my 30 Notes in 30 Days Project. I surprised even myself last night, all atwitter at the prospect of contacting these 30 people. This, my mother will attest, will be a noteworthy feat!
In order to be successful with this project, I’ve come up with a few guidelines to help me through.
- I am allowed to write more than one note on a given day. If I write 2 notes, I’ll just mail them on successive days.
- I am allowed to pre-address envelopes. Most of the notes I write these days never make it to the mailbox because I never get around to finding the address and actually writing it on the envelope. (Is this hard for anyone else?)
- The only decision I have to make each day is who I’ll choose to write to. I made sure the cards I bought would be appropriate for each person on my list. I don’t have to deliberate over whether I should send my aunt the one with the flowers on the front, or whether I should save that one for my mom…all of the note cards are exactly alike.
- I’m not writing the date on any of the notes. I’ll just do one each day, and know I’ve written 30 when my 3 packs of 10 cards each are all gone…I’m going to try really hard not to mess up a note and have to start over…messing up and starting over can be added to the description of hindrances in paragraph 2.
I adore receiving hand-written notes, and am guessing that other people do, too. In the age of email, Twitter, and Facebook, hand-written notes are few and far between. I’m unbelievably excited about this project. I actually wrote my first note tonight, to Dr. Charles Matthews, a wonderfully kind doctor who has been part of my journey. I just wanted to say hi, and thank you. Tomorrow, I think I’ll write to my little sister, Julie.
If you have note-writing issues of your own that you’d like to conquer, or if 30 Notes in 30 Days sounds like fun, and not drudgery, join me. Leave a comment, or drop me an e-mail at teenytinypieces@gmail.com …let me know how your 30 Notes in 30 Days Project goes….
Take good care,
Jane