Apparently I’m not done with today’s ride….Another edition in the same day because I can’t fall asleep. Might as well do something, right?
I’ve been thinking about what I can do during this crazy time… what I can do for the world and maybe for myself too. I was talking to a friend recently and she told me my superpower was connecting people. During this time of social distancing and quarantine, I’ve been thinking of different ways people can connect. We’ve all been calling and Zooming and FaceTiming, but my preferred form of connection is the old snail mail. I absolutely adore cards. I could spend hours and a small fortune in a good card shop, just ask my family. I love stamps, in particular the Sesame Street ones that came out this year. I love making our Christmas card and each year I start preparing it in September or October. I always have photos and my family gets frustrated because inevitably there is a great photo from November or God forbid December that they want included, but those cards were addressed and stamped well before Thanksgiving. I love Valentine cards and in the last few years I’ve gone back to making them. This year I had a gaggle of gals over to my house to make Valentines together. I was on cloud 9 for days. I’d love to have a group of gals over in the coming weeks to make cards for people who are alone and truly isolated during this pandemic, but alas that is not an option.
So back to what I can do and how I can use my superpower. Truth be told I’ve been thinking of a business idea for awhile now. I’m calling it Coffee and Cards. I even have a logo. My idea is to get people to write and send cards to friends/family/strangers. I’ll provide the cards and stamps and even mail them for you, all you have to do is write them. See, I believe in my heart that everyone likes getting mail. Well- not bills and jury duty notice or the kind of mail that LOOKS like it is a handwritten card from a friend but is actually a solicitation of some sort — fun mail from people you know. I mean you can’t honestly tell me that opening mail from a friend doesn’t make you smile.
Since the world came to a screeching halt, I’ve had more time to think. I believe that this is the time for me to take the next step to make my plan a reality. We are all CRAVING connection right now. We need connection. When we all get back to life as we know it, we will still need that connection. So I’m going to get to work. I’m buying/making cards. I’m buying stamps. I’m making plans for the future.
In the meantime, I’m also going to be mailing a lot of cards. I’ll send to friends and family, and to some nursing home residents in IL. A writer for the Chicago Tribune recently wrote an article that a friend shared with me about writing to people in nursing homes and I got a list of names. I encourage you to become a #pandemicpal and/or to send cards/letters to folks you know.
My superpower isn’t sewing to make masks or healing patients or singing to you from my living room, but that doesn’t mean I can’t try to make things better. So there is the happy. Be on the lookout for a card in your mailbox.
