I have decided, completely arbitrarily and unilaterally that henceforth I will celebrate February 28th and August 28th as Post Something Day. You are all invited to join me, or not, as the whim takes you.
Post Something Day has one requirement: You must send something nice to someone you like through the mail. Period.
It can be a postcard, a note, a letter, a gift if you’re that way inclined, or a poem or a doodle. Send it to a friend or relative or acquaintance or workmate – whatever your fancy, um, fancies. Send one, and you have kept the spirit of Post Something Day.
Why did I decide to institute this holiday? I’ll tell you exactly. At Christmas I sent a small gift to a friend, and in January I received, in my mailbox, an actual letter from him, in an envelope, with Wonder Woman stamps on it. The level of joy that I felt at just getting something that was addressed to me from a real person was almost literally breathtaking. My mailbox usually contains flyers and bills, and I’m sure most people’s mailboxes are the same now. A real letter, and from my friend Stephen, was a reminder of why I actually have a mailbox in the first place.
After a few days I thought: wouldn’t it be nice to have that kind of joy spread around a bit? I could send a card to any one of a number of friends or family with whom I most often communicate online or by phone. Then one of them would have that little jolt of happiness, too. I like sending post almost as much as I like getting it, so I would be happy to mail the whatsit, and then I’d be happy thinking of them getting it, and then they’d be happy getting it. That’s a whole lot of happiness for one stamp.
Also, I make a lot of cards, and if I don’t start mailing them out, I will one day be found crushed beneath an avalanche of clever pop-ups. Bonus, I’m saving my life.
This one is called “Pharaoh Guards the Portals of Time”
I picked February 28th because it is the arse-end of winter here in the northern hemisphere, and a time when we could all use a pick-me-up. And then I picked August 28th because it is summer here, when we are often on vacation and inclined to mail a postcard from some exotic venue anyway. And the arse-end of winter and vacation season are opposite in the southern hemisphere, so those dates work there, too. (Actually, I picked July 28th, because I miscounted my months and thought July was halfway around the calendar from February. My friend Barbara pointed out the discrepancy. You could send a card in July, though, if you’d rather.)
Post Something Day is entirely voluntary. It only has the one requirement. There are no official “Post Something Day” cards – and if you ever see one, I suggest you ignore it. You don’t have to reciprocate. You don’t have to send a bunch of stuff to a bunch of people. You don’t have to send stuff to the same people. You just have to mail one nice bit of post to one person you like, and then you may treat yourself to whatever libation you feel suits the season, say “Happy Post Something Day!” to the world at large and get on with your life, knowing that you have made someone else’s day a little happier – even if they don’t know it yet.
It’s an idea whose time has come.
Elizabeth Creith 