Merry Christmas Eve and the Loveliness of Christmas Cards

People often complain about the sending and receiving of Christmas or holiday cards. If someone gets a card from a person not on their "sent" list, they're liable to go into a little bit of a panic and try to send one before it looks like it was only sent in receipt. Or they might hate that feeling of obligation, that now they "owe" someone a Christmas card.

But I love getting Christmas cards, and I love sending them, too. The intent of Christmas card sending has always been to simply send a note of Christmas cheer to help celebrate the season. Or, in some cases (as in the very first Christmas cards ever sent: http://www.emotionscards.com/museum/xmas.html), to ask for donations for the poor and needy.

Since the very beginning, however, the idea that the card should be a small work of art has been part of the tradition.

"Holiday cards designed by Kate Greenaway, the Victorian children's writer and illustrator and Frances Brundage and Ellen H. Clapsaddle, were favorites in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Most were elaborate , decorated with fringe, silk and satin. Some were shaped liked fans and crescents; others were cut into the shapes of bells, birds, candles and even plum puddings. Some folded like maps or fitted together as puzzles; other squealed or squeaked. Pop-up Cards reveled tiny mangers or skaters with flying scarves gliding around a mirrored pond." - Juddi Morris, Vivian Hotchkiss http://www.emotionscards.com/museum/xmas.html

I am just as bad as everyone else. I get into a frenzy; I think I need to have the perfect cards, but not spend too much money. And then I need to buy enough cards. And if I don't buy enough and the others aren't available? What then? Get different "make up" cards. But then I have to decide who gets the original ones and who gets the second set? Jolly Santa? Christmas tree? Art Deco Christmas? And then what if the addresses are wrong. And then there's postage, which is almost ¢.50 per card these days. And you can choose from a variety of stamps. Who gets Mary and Jesus? Who gets the lovely pine branch? Who gets an ornament? What if they're out of Christmas stamps? Which stamps to get then? And again, who gets what?

It's as full of decision making energy as shopping for gifts!

I had part of the stress taken away a couple of years ago when I ordered 8 1/2 x 14 paper by mistake and didn't know what to do with it. And decided since I had already spent money on paper and ink and was short on what I needed to buy cards, that that would be my card. So, that's how my newsletter was born.

But the whole Christmas card thing becomes a bit of a stressor for everyone. And then we forget why we do it all in the first place. The other evening I had a reminder when I finally slowed down (was forced to slow down, actually, by this cold) enough to clean up my bureau and go through and put up my Christmas cards. I spent the evening going through each one. I read them, enjoyed the pictures, looked at the photographs, read the newsy letters enclosed in the cards.

Everyone had done it differently. And each card represented someone in a unique way. Some had children's and family pictures. One of my friends admitted to at least 10 takes to get their family photo right. Then there are the newsy letters - jobs gained and lost, children growing up, people moving, new things happening.

Then the art of the cards. They can range anywhere from the free cards my dad and stepmom send me from their past donations to animal groups to handmade creations with drawings and ribbon and homemade paper. Even with the "free" cards, my dad chose that polar in the bear in the snow cuz he thought it was cute. The friend who sent her handmade card used creams and reds in her homemade paper to represent her. Someone else sent a teal card with red ribbon. Another person sent a card of blues and whites. Another a card of reds and grays. Each card uniquely different from the other, representing one person sending greetings to another in a time honored tradition that goes back 150 years.

E-cards are beginning to replace regular greeting cards. I received at least three this year so far. And they have their own qualities. You can add motion and sound to an ecard that you can't to a regular card. The colors are brighter and there's more going on.

Each card is a little ambassador from a friend or relative's house to yours and represents time and energy, probably love, as well as effort. I found when I took the time to actually read and appreciate the cards that it helped me enjoy this time of the year a little more. If one of the functions of a winter holiday is about bringing light into the middle of the darkness, then each of these cards can represent a small light being sent your way during a time that could otherwise be dark for you.

So, Merry Christmas from my house to yours. And here's my little light I'm sending out to you.

Merry Christmas