Photo: Thinkstock

I don't know about you, but around my house I'm getting a bit of a reputation as a Mailbox Depressive.  I have to confess; it's true.  Most days I walk by my mailbox and think, "Eh. Why." Because chances are, I know what's in there: maybe a flier of coupons I'll never use, possibly something from a car insurance company entreating me to switch. I don't even get paper bills anymore. Why expend energy opening it just to view a cobwebby void?

So it was with only hypothetical interest that I viewed a "Viva Snail Mail!" event held recently at our local playground encouraging kids to write and send - gasp - actual snail mail. (Warning: this had nothing to do with actual snails. I know, we were momentarily disappointed too.) The event, and the Viva Snail Mail blog, which compiles notable postcards, postal history, and a fun idea for a postcard-sending challenge (scroll down), reminded me of the tiny and imminently attainable joy that is the postcard.

The postcard! Prettier than an email, easier than an entire letter, and somehow just so summery.  What a delight, to receive a postcard from a sunny vacation, preferably with exotic stamps! What a noble-and-yet-doable goal, to send your own postcard to far-flung friends around the world or across town! Peruse Viva Snail Mail for some inspiration, and then get thee to a post office (or print some postcard stamps online—you can even design them yourself). You'll help someone you know combat their own mail box depression, and perhaps, just perhaps, they will return the favor.

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