Pausing to Say Hello: The Benefits of Card Writing

As I shared in my update earlier this week, life has been incredibly wild for us the past few weeks. No matter what’s happening, I try to prioritize the things that really matter to me, like card writing.

But did I mention things have been W-I-L-D?

Because of that, I have had to really fight for fringe hours for myself. This past weekend I finally started reading Gone Girl (so good!) and last night I sat down to write a few cards.

The card writing wasn’t done in a quiet chair with a candle burning or anything like that. Nope, I sat down with a stack of Hallmark’s new Studio Ink cards, right amidst the mess of our dining room from last weekend’s wreath party. The kids made sticker art using 90% off foam stickers I bought after Halloween last year, and I wrote.

Some would argue that I had no business card writing with 5-day-old party mess in my dining room (note the ironing board and card tables in the background), but to them I would simply say why? I plan to clean this weekend, when I can do a really good job. I wouldn’t have had enough time to do all the cleaning anyway, but I did have the time to write.

Card writing can often feel like a “thing” that can take a lot of time. It has become easier to send a text or a Facebook message, so that is what we do.

Yet, every time I sit down to write a card, I am reminded that the beauty of card writing is that it can be done anywhere and it is good for the soul and blesses the recipient. We should all take time to write more cards.

Some of the benefits of card writing: 

• When we pause to say hello through a written card, we benefit from the slowness of pen to paper. The act of writing is therapeutic.
• It is good for the soul to acknowledge tangibly when someone has come to mind.
• Card-writing makes you happy. It just does – particularly when the cards are as cute as the Hallmark Studio Ink cards.
• Card-writing is not time-consuming. I wrote six cards in 10 minutes last night.
• Receiving a card in the mail blesses the recipient in a mighty way.

So last night I seized the few minutes I had before dinner to love on a few friends. The Studio Ink cards are especially great because they are small, so it doesn’t take long before you have a filled card to mail. I can’t wait to drop mine in the mailbox today.

As we go into the weekend, I want to encourage you to find a few minutes to write a few notes to some people in your life. They might be friends that live out of town, family members or even someone in your community. Who can you write to and say, you are on my mind. Thank you for being you?

Disclosure: This post was inspired by a year-long sponsored series here on The Mom Creative with Hallmark.