e-mail – Patricia's Place

I have gotten a few Christmas cards this year but I have decided that this year I am not sending cards. I will email Christmas notes to those folks I have email addresses for and the rest I will send a New Year card.

I admit I like getting the cards but I would be happy with an email. The friends I get cards from live out of state and most I don’t see or hear from year to year. If I didn’t get a card or email I would wonder if they are okay.

Maybe an email doesn’t seem as personal or thoughtful to some folks. I know some don’t like email for anything but they are mostly of the older generation. I am a part of that generation of old people but I like email! I guess I will find out next year if some were offended by season’s greeting via cyber-world.

What do you think about snail mail versus email?

Today is Monday, October 25, 2010

I have tried to simplify my life and to live with a bit more awareness of the earth. By that I mean making my life more simple will perhaps result in being kind to the earth. I try to use less paper by using cloth instead of paper where possible; I don’t buy paper towels for instance. I don’t leave the water running when I brush my teeth and I shower more than take baths. The bath thing is a bummer–I do love a bubble bath. I only wash full loads of laundry and full loads in the dishwasher. Turn lights off in rooms I am not using–big for me because I hate dark rooms. Recycle where I can. Anyway, you get the idea.

So, to be mindful of the earth’s resources, I bank on-line and now I am setting up e-bills. Not only is it good for Mother Earth but for me. It is so much easier this way. But there is a down side.–every thing seems to have a down-side. Doing all this paper saving results in less mail. And like nice hot bubble baths I like my mail.

Now when I go to the mail box with happy thoughts of cards and catalogs and magazines and letters and notes and yes, even bills, there is often just an empty box. I hate that!

100_3161 — copyright Louise Callen used by permission

Of course, I do have e-mail and I shop on-line catalogs. I even look at on-line magazines. But it’s just not the same. I was so excited when last year a friend gave me a real magazine subscription for Christmas. It’s okay if someone gives you a subscription as a gift–but not to buy one for yourself.

I do get a Netflix movie once a week–I do that because I am too cheap to go to the movies often. And when I order something on-line it comes in the mail but the cheap thing comes into play again so the ordering is rare. I am not really cheap or frugal but learning to take care with my finances–I am a positive, glass half full kind of person, or I would have said lack of finances.

So, to be a good steward of the earth’s bounty I have turned to Cyber mail–but it is not the same as real mail. It is not as enjoyable an experience as real mail. I imagine there will be a day when snail mail is no longer an option and all correspondence will be digital. How sad–woe is me.