Handwritten Notes & Why To Write Them

Handwritten notes are a dying art.  Why?  Because we text, IM, email, Tweet, SnapChat, and the list goes on and on.  The short answer is we do everything digitally.  We just don't take the time to drop a note in the mail anymore, but let me ask you this - does it make you smile when you find something in your mailbox beside junk mail, subscriptions, and bills?  You just smiled and shook your head yes, didn't you?  That right there is the number one reason we should take the time to drop that note in the mail.

I asked the question - What are your whys for not sending Happy Mail? on my Facebook page the other day and these are the answers I got back:

• I always forget
• I tell myself I'll do it tomorrow
• I don't ever have stamps
• I don't know what to say
• I think about it but I just never follow through
• I'm lazy

Let me share a few tips and ideas to encourage you to send a little snail mail now and then.

For the "I always forget" crowd - Create an outgoing mail station in your house.  Somewhere that outgoing mail can always be laid, somewhere near your keys, somewhere you'll see t and grab it on your way out the door.  This area should include a box for outgoing mail, a place for stamps pen and maybe even a calendar.  On the calendar write important dates.  Once a month sit down and write out your cards for the following month's occasions, put a date in the top right corner of the envelope for the week before the event so you can be sure to mail it on time.  Don't worry you can cover the little date notation when you add the stamp and no one will be any wiser to your new found ways.   

For the "I don't ever have stamps" crowd - Did you know you can buy individual stamps at the post office?  You can also order sheets or rolls of stamps at usps.com and have them delivered to your mailbox. 

For the "I don't know what to say" crowd - Write to tell someone how much you appreciate the role they play in your life.  Try this tip I got from a comment on a post @mailitmonday did on Instagram last week, start your note with "I want to tell you that..." and go from there.  Remember your note doesn't need to be long and meaningful, just a note to say hi, thanks, love you, or thought about you today.  

Hopefully, these tips will help the lazy, lack-of-follow-throughers, and I'll do it tomorrow peeps too.  It's not easy.  Remeber it takes time to build a habit.  I'm not perfect. I forget, I get busy, and I even get lazy.  Then somewhere along the way guilt sets in and I go back to sending cards again.  

I've learned  I'm more of a "Happy Mail" sender than I am a birthday/holiday/anniversary card sender.  I look at it this way, lots of people remember to send birthday cards, Christmas cards and the like.  Why not be the smile on some random day, just to say "Hey, I was thinking about you."  You also have to do it without the expectation of receiving.

"Give without expecting anything in return, not even a thank you.  That is unconditional kindness...everything else is ego."

I hope this helps encourage you to send more handwritten notes.  One last note, don't let the excuse of "bad" handwriting be a factor.  It's the note that matters, not the handwriting.  Now, go send some Handwritten Happy Mail.