Connecting in the time of distance
Wowza. I’m not so good at the keeping up with the blog thing, huh? But that’s an introspective rabbit hole for another post. (Or for my brain later tonight when I’m trying to fall asleep.) For now, I’m just glad to have another space to share something that is long overdue: a personal project that I’m really excited about—and that I didn’t let other things get in the way of finishing!
Right now is a weird moment in time. If you’re reading this within a few months of me posting it, you know why. If you’re 35-year-old me reading this in the future (like how you currently read your study abroad journal or notes that you and The Gang wrote each other in high school) and spring 2020 doesn’t immediately ring a bell, quarantine, coronavirus, and social distancing should do the trick.
Because I think we’re all a bit overwhelmed and exhausted by the global pandemic at hand, I don’t want to go into that too much. But I mention it because it is what prompted this project. People are trying to find, make, and maintain connections in new ways right now, and I think that’s a pretty beautiful thing. But meetings and happy hours are weirdly reminiscent of a scene from Community that I watched the other night where the group meets as contraptions made up of iPads, sticks, and Segways instead of sitting in a shared space.
I’m inspired by the connections, and I love the Brady-Bunch-esque screenshots of everyone’s video conferences, but Zoom calls aren’t so much my jam. And, as you might have guessed by this post so far, I love anything handwritten.
Coronavirus aside, I love mail. Sending it. Receiving it. The whole deal. There’s just something about sitting down and putting thought to paper or physically holding something that someone took the time to mail you that makes the connection more tangible. And I love it.
I thought I’d take the extra anxious energy I have these days and channel it into something productive. Something that would definitely bring me joy, but would also hopefully bring joy to those I love and those they love. So I made some postcards!
The original plan was to just send sets as surprises to my friends and family and encourage them to send cards to others. But I swim in a relatively small friend pool (or certainly only have so many addresses), and I didn’t necessarily want to impose my mail-loving will onto them. So I did a thing I do relatively infrequently – posted on Instagram. Alex made his first foray into being an Instagram boyfriend (neither of us was good at it), and I made a quick little post offering cards to anyone who wanted them.
I’m so glad I did. Most of the people I would’ve sent sets to requested them anyway, but around half of the people who reached out to me were people I haven’t been in close contact with since college or even high school. Such a nostalgic, lovely feeling.
The first batch of cards arrived today, so I wanted to go ahead and do a quick little post to keep the momentum going and share some of the cards. I’m planning to do another post that speaks a bit more to the design process (this is my portfolio site and all). But for now, here’s a sample of the cards! I’m just sharing a few for now, because I have a feeling they may be floating around the aforementioned small pool of people I know. And I’d like to keep a touch of surprise in there. :)
If you haven’t already seen me post about this a ton and want some cards, please get in touch! (There was much more interest than I had originally planned for, so I’m ordering a second batch. (my heart 😍)) There are 10 designs total, but until I run out, anyone who sends me a request can get a set of five for free. Because of the unexpected interest, I am accepting small, pay-what-you-can donations for anyone who is interested in more than the five-card set. (Just a few bucks to help cover shipping costs. I love mail, but it ain’t free.) But otherwise, five are free!
PS For those who have requested cards or just are on the mail train: Did you know you can order stamps online? I usually just pick them up when I’m checking out at the grocery store, but with the extra mail I’ve been sending and the fewer shopping trips I’ve been taking, I decided to order some special sets online. If you’re a postcard lover like me, you can also get postcard stamps that are a little bit cheaper that standard postage.