A few weeks ago, at the start of the fall semester, I had several meetings with a new faculty program lead. This retreat, that meeting, our paths continues to cross. After a few these, the colleague asked, “do you do that at every meeting?”

At first I was taken aback…what? Did I do something wrong? And then she gestured at the notes I was writing, one to a colleague and another to a friend. Hmmmm. Uh-oh. I’d been caught red-handed writing cards.

So, the backstory. Since the pandemic, I do travel with note cards in my bag. I do. During the pandemic I started writing cards to my nieces who were all home from school, struggling through the isolation and monotony like all of us. I wanted to send a note to brighten their day, making sure each one got one every few weeks. It helps to have four nieces!

At first, I sent cards from a set I had purchased. But then, I connected with a friend who is a true crafter and paper artist. Happy Notes Crafts led an online card making session for a few CraftyProf friends during Covid and I was hooked. Not only did I enjoy the company of my crafty friends, I so enjoyed the creative outlet with a little piece of art I could share with others. Thanks to Happy Notes Crafts, I now have quite a paper crafting set up.

But it wasn’t until I learned more about the work of some other friends and colleagues that the power of these simple notes I was sending my nieces became clear. Alison LaGarry and Lucia Mock, colleagues at UNC, had used letter writing as a means of connecting the uncertainty and isolation of the pandemic to their future selves. “Letters encourage us to be vulnerable,” LaGarry noted. Letters are personal, close, and accessible. I would share secrets with my nieces and give them encouragement for the things I knew they were dealing with. Letter writing helped fill a void created by covid with new connections.

So, here I am, someone who typically crochets, now making cards. Beautiful, handmade cards! And sending lots of cards. I struggle more with designing the cards than I do with writing them. I like to drop a note of encouragement, let people know I’m thinking of them, send thanks, and simply build friendships across the miles, or even across the hall.

So, do I do this at every meeting, as my colleague noticed? No, not always. But I probably will be sending a note again soon. Thanks for reading.

dbl.