Some people love Friday nights, some people enjoy Sunday afternoons, but my favorite part of the weekend is Saturday morning. I love to wake up and get an early start to the day before the city is alive and hectic. I’ve been making my own ‘lattes’ in our apartment with almond or coconut milk and having a healthy breakfast and a good workout. I take that time to cross some things off of my list that I have a difficult time getting to late at night during the week. One of these was a long list of thank you’s.
I grew up in the south where every birthday party was followed by an afternoon of writing thank you notes. I wasn’t allowed to play or do anything else that day until I had handwritten each of my friends a thank you note for coming to celebrate. My mom would pick out a cute set and put them on the kitchen counter for me to have at it. I have really loved calligraphy and handwriting since I was young for whatever reason, but there were some ages where my hand got tired and I really didn’t understand why I couldn’t just tell them thank you at school the next week.
What my mom instilled in me has really stuck with me especially in my adulthood (post college). With the infiltration of social media in our society and even the presence of e-mail, we’re really becoming so much more removed from personal communication. How often do you pick up the phone to call a friend to find out how they’re doing? It’s much easier to text.. or Facebook.. or Tweet.. or comment on their Instagram photos… you know you’re guilty. I know that I value my own time a lot and so I try to keep that in mind when it comes to other peoples’ time as well. In return when people have gone out of their way to help me or have done something really nice for me I try and return the gesture with a little gratitude. You can send a treat, a Starbucks e-card, and don’t get me wrong a sweet text is always welcomed, but I think our generation has lost a bit of the old fashioned way and I am trying to keep that alive for myself.
The thing about a handwritten thank you note is that it takes a little more time and effort than any of those other forms of gratitude. You have to find some stationary or a card, write it out without spellcheck, sign it, seal it, stamp it and address it. My tip is to save envelopes from your friends when you receive cards, etc. in a box and when you need to mail something back to them find the return address. Once you have it save it in your phone with their name and you can throw the envelope away!
Thank you notes are genuine. They don’t cost much and what you write is coming out of your heart. Although it’s a tiny bit more effort, the way the recipient feels about you taking the time to put that little bit in is totally worth it. Who knows.. they might’ve gotten in a fight with their spouse or friend, had a rough day at work or at school and you might’ve just made someone’s day.
Thank you for writing this! Just last night I facebooked about this very thing. My husband writes thank you cards to my parents for Christmas gifts. I was raised that you get a gift, you write a thank you letter! I don’t want this practice to die!
That’s really sweet that your husband does it too :) I love that! Glad to know there are others who are in it with me!
I’m right there with you. I always write thank you notes. I think it means so much.
Style by Joules
I couldn’t agree more.. glad to know there are others Joules! xo