Cos I do, oh heckin yes I do. I feel the christmas card received through the mail, is a dying art. A simple christmas gesture or gift that is quickly fading away. I remember as a kid we had string strung everywhere across the house with christmas cards draped over it. Everyone sent you a card, and you sent everyone a card.
Then it kind of just stopped, I know when it stopped too, pretty much as soon as the internet went mainstream and the dreaded digital cards appeared. Then we got text messages on our phones and then the final nail in the coffin, the vile book of face (I wish not to say its' name).
So, I've been on a quest since to bring back the mailed christmas card. You sure as hell can still buy them, Etsy for example has piles of local makers producing hilariously funny and half hilariously funny cards. Your post office sells crappy ones and so do the big department stores, so there's heaps around.
This year I posted around 75 cards, mostly within Australia , plus around eight to people overseas in five countries. Each one handwritten and curated for the receiver. I mean, not overly curated, but a creepy santa card isn't always the best card to send to someone with small kids or even to an elderly great aunt. I guess what I'm saying is that I select the cards carefully, I don't just buy bulk crappy ones.
And it is appreciated, I get lots of text messages from people telling me how awesome it was to get a card, how awesome my cards are, DMs saying they look forward to my card every year and... yep, text messages and DMs. I do see the irony in that, it makes me smile. BUT all is not lost. I make it very clear to peeps that they are not obliged to send me a card in return, and most don't, but each year the number of cards I get back increases. Not a big increase but the reciprocal line graph's pointing upwards, not downwards. This year I've gotten back 12 so far, and I know there's still a couple in transit.
So it's working, the seeds are planted and I realise that a ratio of 83/14 is not a winning ratio, but this will take time. Last year it was 80/10, the year before 76/7. Give it time. Now birthday cards... yep, I send close to 80 of those a year too, but that's another exactly the same as this one story!
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