National Send A Friend A Card Day!

Coming up on February 7 is a social media holiday I can really get behind:

It’s National Send A Friend A Card Day!

In my book, Get Real, Get Going: The Definitive Roadmap to Starting the Private Practice of Your Dreams, I encourage new therapists to get in the habit of sending hand-written cards. Has  a mentor given you some advice over coffee? Send a thank-you card! Have you met a new colleague you’d like to keep in touch with? Let them know with a personal note. As I say in the book, “In this electronic age, a card received in the mail accentuates that you think they’re worth the effort.”

I am all about sending hand-written cards in my personal life, too. I keep a stash of cute stationary, colored pens, stamps and stickers, so that when I feel the impulse to show my appreciation, I can act on it easily. Taking a few moments to adorn a card for a friend, family member, or service provider who makes my life easier allows me to feel gratitude, which makes me happy. Science backs me up. In one study, participants were assigned to send three letters of gratitude in three weeks. According to the authors of the study,  “Results indicated that writing letters of gratitude increased participants’ happiness and life satisfaction, while decreasing depressive symptoms.

And of course, the people who received my cards feel warm and appreciated too! Studies show that small gestures make us feel loved!

So on February 7, or any day, consider brightening someone’s day – and yours too — by sending a card!

(A final piece of trivia: I am a huge fan of author, David Sedaris, and was gratified to read in this article that he is also a fan of the humble hand-written card!)