Observations on seasonal e-mail vs. card

For years I have dreaded sending out holiday cards. It's simply not something I enjoy doing. Most years I've forced myself to do it, but it has become more challenging yearly.

Last year I notice an increase in the number of e-greetings I received and a reduction in cards. So, I felt that e-greetings were becoming more acceptable.

As I looked online at e-greetings, I found some I liked, but I also found that the nasty folks who send out viruses and malware also use them. This gave me pause in terms of sending one to my friends and acquaintances.

So, I decided to send out a simple e-mail with my seasonal wishes.

I'm really happy I did, because in many cases, people e-mailed me back and we had a little e-mail conversation. One person even picked up the phone and called me.

So, what I feared would be a less personal form of contact actually turned out to be more personal.

It might be I should think of sending out the greetings as a selfless act that I do for the sake of those who receive the cards. But it was much more fun hearing from people and catching up a bit. Real two-way communication instead of what feels like a one way message to the void.

My one mistake was not reviewing the list of subscribers to my e-Zine and striking them from one list or another. They received two greetings. I'll try to do better next year.