Writing my Christmas cards at the dining room table yesterday – a lovely, sunny, winters afternoon.
Yes, it is that time of year again… time to write my Christmas cards! Some people love it but many seem to have negative feelings about this seasonal task. I hear complaints about the cost… the feeling obliged to send them… the environmental issues of using so many trees to make the cards and then the pollution involved in transporting them to their destinations. But there are some positives among all these too.
It may not surprise you to know that I love my Christmas cards. They are one of the most important features of Christmas for me. In this automated, electronic age, I relish being able to still hold something – touch it while I write it – that the recipient is going to also soon hold in their own hands – no matter what part of the globe they may be living on. Similarly, I adore receiving cards in return… saving them up until two or three days before Christmas to open with the family, and hearing all the news, reading the enclosed letters and messages and, yes, touching the paper that my loved ones have also held with their hands. It almost feels like we are holding hands together across all the time and miles… our cards unite us.
Which is why, when I write my cards, I try and take my time. I am as busy as the next person, but it is important to me. I write a message which I genuinely feel for the person I am addressing, and once that is done, I lay my hands across it and ‘charge’ it with some positive thoughts and feelings like love and light.
If you are only writing your cards – or doing anything else – because everyone else is doing it, then stop! Don’t do it at all. ‘Have to’ and other people’s expectations are not nearly a good enough reason. You need to mean what you do – and enjoy it too. Otherwise it is an empty gesture which benefits no one.
No matter how many or few cards you wish (and I use the word advisedly!) to send, stop and think about what you really want to say to the person you are writing the card to. What would you say if they were standing in front of you? If you could say anything at all that your heart desired, what would that be? That is what your Christmas message should be – that is exactly what you should write. These days there is a lot of talk about authenticity; in this case speaking our truth and expressing ourselves – our feelings – authentically. So do it.
If what you would truly like to say to this person is not nice…is offensive… insulting… then you shouldn’t be writing a card to them at all. So don’t. But on reflection, it is the time of year for putting aside your grievances – can you not find it in your heart to wish them well anyway? We all have challenges, emotions, misguided good intentions … and make mistakes… how about giving the gifts of generosity, second chances and benefits of the doubt this year? Forget the expensive presents. Give something which really means something and will have a positive, beneficial effect into the new year ahead.
As for the environmental impact of the production and transportation of so many millions of cards, let us get this in perspective. Look out for environmentally friendly cards to buy – not just the paper production but there are also options to use less toxic dyes and colours too – and lobby for them to be used at other times of the year. When all is said and done, when one considers just what quantity of unnecessary goods we rape the riches of the Earth to manufacture, why pick on the innocent Christmas card? When the good feeling, friendship, healing and love which they annually carry all around the globe is weighed against their production, I would suggest that it really is worth it after all.
I understand that I will probably never know most of the people who read my blog posts. But, hey… you… yes, it is you I am talking to… my sincerest wishes to you for a marvellous Midwinter, a very happy Christmas, and a wonderful winter in general… With my love.
