Greetings From…

Yeah, yeah, I know, true spontaneity is both unplanned and unrehearsed, what’s your point? ;)  And yeah, I know I just wrote a post endorsing the idea of being spontaneous in sending greeting cards.  But I’m telling you, when it comes to sending greeting cards, true spontaneity takes preparation and practice!

You see, while the spontaneous act of grabbing a card, jotting down your thoughts, and throwing it in the mail, should be an impulsive one that is acted upon the moment a feeling strikes you, it’s really hard to do without the card you need to send it.  So the first thing you need to do to prepare for being spontaneous is to buy a bunch of cards.

To do so, simply spend some time browsing through some great cards (may we suggest: highvoltagecards.com?) and stock up on cards that you like.  Find an easily accessible drawer, a box, or a cubby hole, and give them a home.  For me, the number of cards I usually had on hand (before we started our company) ranged between 30 and 40.  (Now, it’s ranges between 8 and 10 thousand, but that’s a little extreme!)  And every time I got the urge to send one, I’d open the card drawer, flip through the stack until I found the one that struck me at the moment, and then immediately write down my thoughts.  Having cards on hand allowed me to be spontaneous.  (Stamps help too, btw, so keep a book of those on hand as well.)

Next, practice following your impulses!  Being spontaneous takes work.  Sure, it’s easy when you’re a kid, but the older you get, the more you get punished for impulsive behavior, until one day you forget what it is to immediately act on a feeling.  So practice acting on the impulse to send a card.  When you think of someone you’d like to connect with, stop whatever you’re doing, grab a card, and jot her or him a quick note.  Then, seal it up, stamp it, and drop it in the mail that day.

It’ll only take a minute and both you and the lucky person who receives your card will feel better for the effort.