Backstory: I’ve been meaning to sit down and write long letters to friends and family members for (gulp) months. So many other things get in the way.

I am good about calling and texting, etc., but it just isn’t the same. I don’t save emails or text messages, but I do have a handwritten postcard on my desk from my grandmother (from her trip to Kenya in 1969!), and every time I look at her distinctive handwriting, I feel that she’s here with me.

So–pretty postcards*, good pen, stamps–check! I’m going to reconnect by posting a bit of me to a few friends this week.

What Happened: I took a breather between projects this afternoon and pulled out my supplies. As I wrote a quick note to each friend, I thought of her, pictured her in my mind. As I recalled a shared memory and included my wish that she was having a wonderful day, I found it was a sweetly personal experience. Lovely.

The Ah-Hah: It took just a few minutes for me to write the five cards, not much longer than it would have taken me to type out five text messages. Yet the process felt deeper. I smiled through the whole process. When was the last time I smiled while texting? (Pretty much never.)

After I took a short walk to drop them in a nearby blue box (getting outside for some fresh air is another perk of this nudge), I picked up my own mail. Ads, junk, bills, requests for charitable donations. I imagined my friends picking up similar stacks, then smiling when they see the cards. I hope they enjoy this as much as I have.

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