What do you think someone needs to hear?
The question was posted by the You are Postcard Workshop at the Renegade Craft Fair. While walking the fair this past weekend, lots of great vendors were selling great wares, but I was left wanting something more meaningful. Something more interactive. Something more engaging rather than products.
Along comes the Chicago Reader booth “from your friends at you-are-beautiful.com” They were holding a little workshop where people can fill out postcards completing the sentence, “You are _____________.”
The instructions posted said:
FILL OUT A POSTCARD.
Finish the sentence. What do you think someone needs to hear?
ADDRESS A POSTCARD.
Write your name & address, (or a friends) on a different blank card.
Get a surprise greeting in a few weeks!
TOSS IN A DONATION.
$1 Suggested Donation. This will help cover postage costs.
Here’s what the blank postcards looked like:
What a great question! What would you tell a stranger via mail? What would that person need to hear? Words like “cool, nice, neat” came to mind. But I needed to give this some thought. I sat down on the sidewalk in the shade and busted out my sticky note pad to explore my thoughts.
I wanted something really thoughtful. Here’s my thought process:
I’m pleased with suurepärane. It’s unique and has lots of meaning. I wasn’t able to check what the top results on google were for this word, because of the lack of internet access. Because you know the person who gets this card will end up googling suurepärane.
I just googled suurepärane and I’m shocked by the lack of good results. I’m hoping that my blog post or flickr post will result at the top. Here’s what the final card looked like:
swirlygirl of Santa Monica made an incredible set of 12 postcards that say: You are precious. You are enough. You are an artist. You are inspiring. You are extraordinary. You are sparkly. You are creative. You are a blessing. You are a light in the world. You are exactly where you belong. You are loved. Check ’em out at: http://pinterest.com/pin/195600453/
When I first saw the photo of the “You are _____” cards without reading your post, I thought they wanted people to talk about themselves, not others.
Moose, yeah (as you probably read) the postcards are mailed to someone you don’t know. It’s neat.