What this is

I love getting mail. Do you? I bet you do. I remember when I was a kid, home from school on those hot summer days, my many siblings and I LIVED for the mail, even though we would never get anything but junk mail. If we saw the mail truck on the other side of the street, we'd wait on the porch, ready to pounce the instant he pulled up to our own humble abode. We would race down the driveway to be the first to get it and fight over who got to carry it in, and those days when he would pull out after our neighbor's house and skip ours, our hearts sank. Not even a coupon for Pizza Hut or fabric softener? Betrayed!

Recently, the US Post Office has been experiencing financial difficulties, as I'm sure you've heard. They're thinking of cutting delivery down to only five days a week to save on costs. Tuesday, I believe, is the one lined up on the chopping block. I thought about my own kids (once I have them) being deprived of that same senseless joy.

I thought about the last time I got anything in the mail that wasn't a bill or an add trying to get me to take on another bill. A single Christmas card once a year (which is universally awesome). A couple of wedding invitations (thank goodness I'm old enough that my friends are starting to marry, or I'd get nothing good at all). Within the same week of reading about the mail going broke, I saw an episode of Mad Men in which they are tasked with coming up with a campaign for the sailing Western Union Telegram company. In one scene while pitching ideas, Ken says, "I love getting telegrams, but I never send them."

He's right, I realized. I keep wanting someone to send me something, but I'm too lazy or too unwilling to send anything out. 

Then, because the universe is rarely subtle with me, "We Used to Wait" by The Arcade Fire (a song I hadn't heard in a couple of years) popped up on a random shuffle.

I couldn't remember the last time I'd been excited to check the mail. Sure, I still have a Pavlovian  need to see if something has come in, but that's more habit than excitement. And sure, I get packages from time to time, but I always know they're coming, I always know exactly what they are and when they will arrive. They also don't come via USPS. It's usually FedEx or UPS or some other service with tracking so I know every time the driver stops to buy a burger.

Where's the suspense? Where's the surprise?

I nodded, accepted the universe's message and set about on the Twenty Stamp Project.

Each month, I would buy a book of stamps and send out twenty random things to people. Originally, the idea was to send all sorts of stuff, stories, drawings, poems, etc, so long as I could mail it with one stamp. For the past three months, it's ended up being twenty random photographs I'd taken with a short story written on the back of each and mailed off as a postcard.

Perhaps one day, I'll branch out and do various things, but I'm content with postcards for now. Diversifying my output isn't the aim of the game. I'm doing this for three reasons.

1. To keep me doing something creative every month.
2. To get people excited about the mail again, by injecting a bit of whimsy into their lives.
3. To inspire others to send mail to their friends, and in turn, get them excited about the mail.

I'll probably add individual Twenty Stamp Project items from the past few months piece by piece until they're all uploaded. Then I'll start putting them up as I do them once I get caught up.

Keep your eyes peeled. Soon, I'll be taking requests!

For now now, keep happy and keep checking the mail