Perfect Poise, Perfect Life
Bring your body into balance and revolutionise your life
By Noel Kingsley
Publisher Hodder Mobius
AVAILABLE HERE
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To send or not to send...
Christmas card from Egypt, 1942
Someone has just mentioned to me that it's only 8 weeks until Christmas. And while I am generally aware of this alarming fact having taken the opportunity in a shop last week to buy a present or two when I saw the 'perfect thing', the bald fact that this fest is mere weeks away caused me some alarm; I nearly stiffened my neck. Presents are one issue, but Christmas cards are another.
Do you send Christmas cards and if so, how do you choose who to send them to?
OK, it is too early to be even thinking of cards for the Festive Season. Of course we can leave it all to the last minute. However, I have dug a pit for myself from which I cannot easily get out. Or rather, I quite enjoy this pit I've dug and I'm reluctant to get out. What I mean is, for the last few years I have had my own Christmas card printed with one of my tree/snow photographs. Being a keen photographer and Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society I take great pleasure in making traditional black and white images from my darkroom and I have specialised in photographing trees for close on 15 years. So when the Tree Council asked me several years ago if they could use some of my images for their Christmas cards, I was more than delighted to help their worthy cause as a charitable gesture. I also used the cards for my own friends. Since then I have continued the 'tradition' and produced a different card each year.
However, I suffer from ambivalence. Part of me enjoys printing a new card each year and then I also have this little voice inside telling me that I should buy charity cards, as I did for decades before. In recent years I have satisfied my 'guilt' by making separate donations to 'worthy causes'.
The 'pit' that I've dug is in my head; many friends and colleagues who have received one of my cards say they really liked it and in some cases even kept it or had it framed for their wall! Now I feel that I can't stop. But a big part of me doesn't want to stop anyway; I enjoy it.
But back to the main question; how do you decide who to send cards to, or for that matter do we send cards at all?
I've wrestled with this on numerous occasions and my mental argument goes like this... If I send a card to everyone on my list the numbers run into several hundred. This is too much. If I were to not send a card at all this year, I would feel somewhat guilty as I have not communicated when the opportunity presents itself (t's the season of Good Will); I have not sent 'my card', I am not giving as the season suggests we should. So I draw a balace.
Another question or consideration. ~ Is the writing and giving of cards a chore? When there are over a hundred to write it certainly becomes a task and if this is to be done, then starting early can ease the pressure of writing. I make sure I do not make it a chore, as I'll explain.
And another question ~ how much should one write on the card? The easiest and quickest way is just to sign it but for me that defeats the purpose of the card; it is a means of communication, so this is what I wish to do. I write a personal message in each one, relevant to the person. It takes a lot of time, but if a card is worth giving (and let's not forget the costs of the card itself and also the postage) then it's worth doing so with thought and kindness to the other person. Not only do I write a personal message but I do it in wet fountain pen ink that needs time to dry. Why? Because I write my letters this way, upholding traditional values and the sending of a card is no different. Having more than a hundred to write certainly means the task is not a quick one and by writing in this manner I increase the scale of the task by my idiosyncratic ways. One year I also hand wrote all the envelopes despite having every name and address on my computer; I wanted to properly connect with each person. But recently I have succumbed to the 'naughties' trend for speed and efficiency by printing some labels and consoled my guilt by remembering it's the message inside and thought that counts.
For me, it all comes down to whether it is worth doing or not. If I am just going to quickly sign the card and get them done as fast as possible without any thought ~ 'job done', then it's not worth doing at all. Any card sent in such haste and with lack of consideration should not be sent at all as it just adds to the Christmas 'junk mail'. Sorry, but this is my belief. So as I now have a cosy pit dug for myself where I feel that I should and want to send my own printed cards, I shall do them with as much consideration and thought as I would write an individual birthday card. The fact there are approaching two hundred to write makes no difference.
And for that matter on who do I send cards to? Naturally I write cards to my family and dear friends but also to other people with whom I have some sort of ongoing relationship; I also send them to the friends and acquaintances with whom I have lost touch and the card is a means of keeping the contact somewhat alive. I send them to people who are not necessarily my friends but to whom I simply want to send some good wishes. I do not send cards through obligation, habit or guilt. No. I try to write each card with a smile. :-) In the wise words of Punch and Judy..."That's the way to do it!"
Christmas Cards? It's the thought that counts, not the action.
