Why I Still Send Hand-Written Thank You Notes

Ah Snail Mail. Don’t you just love snail mail? I can remember a time when we always got a lot of boring letters in our mailbox (that weren’t junk mail) and we would actually get so excited when we got an email. Or a text message. Or an instant message. Do you remember that? Like OMGsh somebody wrote on my MySpace wall! (Was it called a wall?).

I saw a meme recently about this. I found the meme again but I can’t find where it originally came from. But anyway, the top pane is 10 years ago and the guy has his arms full of letters and says “Sigh… Letters” but then he’s at his computer which says “Ding! You’ve got mail!” and he’s jumping up and down. Then the bottom pane is today and he’s sitting at his computer with a meh face and 220 Unread Emails and then he’s holding a letter and jumping for joy saying “OMGsh! A letter!”

I think you get the picture.

Snail Mail and hand written letters are almost extinct these days. It's so much more convenient to send an email or text. But I believe there is still a lot of value in hand written thank you notes. They mean so much more and they're fun to write. Especially when you have super cute cards from The Invite Lady!

Sending someone a letter in the mail is old school. It’s out of style. Nobody does that anymore, right? And I mean, why would we? You have to have stationery or at least paper, envelopes, and stamps. You have to write it with a pen or pencil (do you remember what those are?) or print it out, stuff the letter in the envelope, find a stamp to go on it, and walk to the mail box. Then it takes a minimum of three days to get to the destination.

OR you could just type up an email or text right on your computer or phone and click send. The recipient gets it instantaneously and can text you right back! I get it! It’s so much more convenient!

But to me, that’s just it. Snail Mail takes more time and effort. It means more. I’ve always been the kind of person for whom effort means a lot more than the final product, you know? Like if Pearson gave me a single rose once per month for a year, I would love it so much more than if he gave me a dozen roses at one time. He thinks that’s super inefficient, but it just means he thought about me and put the effort in 12 times instead of just once.

So I don’t write hand-written letters for just anybody and all the time like I do with texts and emails. But I love to do it for something special.

And I should say here again that I totally understand that it’s easier and usually just makes more sense to send a text instead. The internet and technology have made life so much easier and I certainly respect that. So please don’t read this and think I resent you for not sending me snail mail or anything like that. That’s not what I mean by this at all.

Another reason I still write them is because I’m good at it. And I don’t admit that I’m good at very much in life. For some reason I’ve always been good at encouraging people through written words. This also goes for emails, social media, and texts. I mean, it makes sense because I’m a blogger. I write a lot and I like to write. But there’s something about specifically writing to one person, expressing my thanks and gratitude or expressing my condolences and encouragement.

You know how we talk about gifts people have in The Church? Like we’re all different and we all have different gifts and talents that we use to further God’s Kingdom here on Earth. Some people are good at preaching or teaching. Some people are good with children. Some people are organized and good at planning events. The list could go on. I’ve always said I’m an encourager. And it’s certainly important to encourage people in person which is something I’m working on. But I’m good at and really enjoy encouraging through written words.

Ok anyway, enough of my rambling. You know, I still think even if you don’t consider yourself good with words, writing notes and thank you cards is important. It’s not that hard. All you have to write is “Thank you for the [whatever it was]. I really appreciate your thoughtfulness and I value our friendship!” Then lick the envelope, slap on a stamp, and put it in the mail box.

Oh but first you have to get some really cute stationery. For me, this makes all the difference! The cuter the “Thank You” cards are, the more they make me want to use them! Some of the cutest I’ve seen come from The Invite Lady.

*She gave me a couple different designs of my choice in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.

Y’all, The Invite Lady has a ton of cute designs to choose from. She does invitations and thank you cards for kids parties, baby showers, bridal showers, and really any party you could think of. Plus, there is a lot of personalized stationary and neutral, adorable, greeting cards, thank you cards and even recipe cards! I had the hardest time picking out designs I wanted. Even a lot of the thank you notes that were meant for baby showers and such were cute possibilities!

Do you still send snail mail? Do you still like to receive snail mail?
Thanks for reading!