The Lost Art of… Posted on 6th Dec 2012, 10:58am by Alvin

The lost art of… writing Christmas cards! (Ok, I bet a substantial number of readers must have thought I was going to talk abt the lost art of writing, since I was just bemoaning in my previous post about how little I write nowadays. =P Gotcha.. haha)

Yes! It’s that time of the year again, when u starting seeing Orchard Road decked up in its baubles, the radio keeps playing on loop your familiar Christmas carols, and Sunday Church services start off with the lighting of your familiar pink / purple candles, and everyone is trying to get you to buy turkey / ham / wine / chocolates from them for some charitable cause..

Coming back to the main point of my post – have you received any Christmas cards this year yet? =)

I remember how as a kid, I always looked forward to the postman’s arrival in December, since I always thought it was really nice to open Christmas cards received in the mail. (even though they were not addressed to me – oh come on, how many Christmas cards do you expect a kid to receive??) I secretly suspect that this stemmed partially from the fact that as a kid, you don’t get any mails addressed to you at all! and that the Christmas cards were probably the next most neutral envelopes you could open without getting a earful from your parents… (other than bills of course) O_O

As I grew up, somehow my circle of friends were never the Christmas-card-sending-type, and more often than not, I find myself receiving Christmas cards as a reciprocating gesture instead – you know, when someone sends you back a Christmas card with 50% of the reason being that they received one from you, and its really paiseh not to send one back as courtesy? And actually more often than not, its these unexpected Christmas cards that really make your day when you open them in the mail!

One of my fondest memories, was when I was back in Sec 2. I received a small Christmas card from one of my Scouts senior. We had just completed our annual 3 day camp – and you know, with the usual scouting activities and stuff. He wasn’t even my direct senior, since we were in different patrols at that time. But during that camp in 1999, it was the first time we both sort of worked together. I know he was definitely not Christian then, and we didn’t even talk much to each other on a regular basis, so imagine my surprise when I received that Christmas card after the camp. I still keep that Christmas card till today – it was a square gold-colour-rimmed with a cutesy snowman in the middle, with a message on the inside.. (yeah, I guess I’m a little bit of a hoarder.. =P)

Since then, I have always tried to make it a yearly habit of sending our Christmas cards to my close friends. I remember that initially, one of these friends complained that why my Xmas cards had no message in them (that was when I was rushing to send them out!).. and after that, the next year, he complained why my Xmas card message was so long! LOL!

Christmas cards, are a lovely way to express your thoughts and feelings to your loved ones around you! Oh I can reassure you that it is not the same as receiving an email Christmas card from someone via the internet. We humans, are a very emotional kinda of being. The tactile feel of getting that Christmas card, opening the envelope, and reading (and re-reading) a message from a friend whom you’ve not seen or spoken to for a long time – yet never forgotten – is priceless. It cannot be simply replaced fully by an email greeting, though I guess an sms greeting comes in a close second, since it does take effort to send them. =P (btw, those e-cards, they expire in a week’s time right? I can at least keep your sms greeting till I change my phone in 2 years’ time)

So what are you waiting for? Remember to grab a box of Christmas cards from your parish’s bookstore this weekend! (do your part for the many church renovation funds that are out there) Set aside an hour, and send off those Christmas cards to your close loved ones whom you’ve not seen in a while, especially those who are abroad – you can’t imagine the surprise on their face when they get your card.

Speaking of which, I better get down to writing my own Christmas cards.. 3 more weeks! =) Happy Advent and Merry Christmas, everyone!