5/16/05 RM Newsletter: Gift of a Letter

Today's Quote: "What cannot letters inspire? They have souls; they can speak; they have in them all that force which expresses the transports of the heart; they have all the fire of our passions." Letter from Heloise to Abelard (from Gift of a Letter by Alexandra Stoddard)


Just returning from the National Stationery Show in New York
City, I was struck by the energetic "forward motion" of the
thousands of vendors still enthusiastic about the power of the
hand-written note. Artists proudly displayed their watercolors on
letterhead, invitations and place cards; sales reps extolled the
creative spark of polka-dotted and beribboned stationery; and
entrepreneurs remained full of hope that the power of the hand-
written word might overtake the power of email. They all came out
in full-force and crowded the aisles of the Javits Center in
downtown Manhattan for the four-day event.



I walked for six straight hours, on a personal mission to nail
down a packaging supplier for a new product I'll be launching
this fall (see below for details). Besides finding several
vendors, I walked 'til I dropped...safely into my van...only to
fight excruciatingly heavy traffic back home, with the popular
Henry Hudson Parkway closed from a mudslide last week (did you
see video on the national news?? It was horrific!! Traffic going
in and out of Manhattan is still a nightmare!) Perusing the
aisles and booths of the largest national trade show for the
stationery and paper goods market, I came away with a few
creative strategies for ROCKET MOMS everywhere:


1)Elevate your deskwork from boring to brilliant. Many of the near-
daily tasks we are required to perform at our kitchen desks
involve mundane and repetitive routines: paying bills;
reconciling the checkbook; dealing with medical statements
(ugh!); RSVP-ing to social invitations; and writing quick notes
to teachers, carpool moms, coaches, etc. This stuff can bog you
down...especially if you are a fun, sanguine personality type who
holds general disdain for all things administrative. Take heart!
There are literally thousands of colorful, creative papers on the
market today, giving you a myriad of options from which to
choose. Run to your nearest stationer to elevate this arena to
one of artistic brilliance. One of the simplest strategies for
ROCKET MOMS is transform the mundane, everyday realities of
motherhood into highly creative endeavors. This area is no
exception. Choose beautifully designed papers to respond to
invitations; convert favorite photos to stamps (check out
www.stamps.com); invest in a wonderful seal as well as some
colorful sealing waxes...and you will find yourself thoroughly
enjoying the previously dreary, dull task of paperwork. Make
yourself a cup of organic coffee, turn on the stereo and deal
with this everyday reality with an artistic twist.


2)Start a stationery wardrobe. Keep your eyes peeled for gorgeous
papers, envelopes, stamps, seals, waxes, and labels. Have you
seen the newest way of delivering sealing wax? It comes in "glue
stick" form, ready to load into your low heat glue gun. It evenly
distributes the hot wax to your envelopes, ready for stamping
with your favorite seal. Watch for beautifully packaged gift
enclosure cards, writing papers, and cards. Keep a birthday and
anniversary journal near this stash so that you will better
remember all-important dates of those in your circle of love.


3)Collect pretty storage containers. Beautiful options abound! Be
they beribboned baskets or miniature suitcases or papered boxes:
all present wonderful options for holding all of these fine
papers and accoutrements. Display them in full view so that you
will remain inspired to delve into them frequently, pulling out
your favorites and sending them for all different occasions.


4)Commit to catching up on written correspondence one day a week.
I confess to being hopelessly behind...but I also admit to always
trying to do better. Can you become convicted to writing at least
one personal letter on your "correspondence day"? With pen in
hand--filled with a beautifully colored ink (hot pink? lime green?
bright blue? purple?)--write a note of thanks or a note of
condolence; respond to an upcoming social event; or simply
transpose your children's activity calendar into your Filofax.
Try to stay on top of these things as they have a way of quickly
getting out of control, leaving you feeling guilty for being
hopelessly late, as well as feeling dreadfully irresponsible for
missing important deadlines.


5)Contribute to a letter-writing renaissance. Email has its
purpose, to be sure. Few of us could live without it. Yet who
could argue that a hand- written letter has significance beyond
what any words electronically transmitted could possibly convey?
You have been tremendously supportive and encouraging, both in
your blessings on Nick in his health battle, as well as in your
encouragement in my endeavors with ROCKET MOM. Most weeks bring
hand-written correspondence from readers whom I do not personally
know. While this yields my full support for the beauty of the
internet--without which our relationship would never have
formed--it is the hand-written notes which I especially cherish
and save. I keep a file into which each and every one of them
falls. Email may, in the end, prevail, but I am hopeful that,
like the thousands of vendors with whom I came in touch today in
New York, the hand-written letter will remain a most valued gift
from the heart.