Trading Paper Can Be A Lasting Ritual

A small selection of some of my printed stationery

out of all the things i take pictures of, one of the things i think i get consistent comments on are pictures of stationery. now i know a lot of people who read this blog have the same addiction i have, which is an addiction to paper.
my addiction can't kill me, hurt my family or get me in trouble with the law. not yet anyway.


i think people hunger for the written word.
when i send notes, people thank me for them, just like it was a little gift.
i enjoy writing notes, thank you's, postcards, whatever.
if i could get paid to do it, i would sign up for that job right away.

many years ago, my friend mary lou (who has more paper than you could ever imagine) and i came up with the idea to do a paper exchange. we both had so much stationery that we thought it might be fun to exchange 5 notes to each other at christmas time. we spent months over the year culling the best pieces of paper in the country.
and it was a tradition at christmas that honestly i looked forward to more than many others.

we invited our friend katie to join us about 4 years ago. this past christmas, we did not do our exchange. our lives got busy. we tried to do it around valentine's day. but it never happened.

last week, we made the time and went to tiny boxwoods. over dinner, we realized we can't ever be too busy for this ritual. we must make the time for the things that feed our souls.
because letters mingle souls.

items that went to katie

items that went to mary lou

and some of the wonderful things i received

i hope this would inspire someone to pull out their favorite pen, grab some stationery, write something wonderful to someone and pick an interesting stamp.
letter writing is not a chore.
it is an opportunity to touch someone else.