By: Kylie Acerra
Greeting Cards, a monetary item given from one person to another with the purpose of celebrating or giving the other support. The importance of greeting cards lies within the purpose, but the intentions change per person. Consumers buy them in order to express positive emotions, but producers sell them in order to make a profit. To provide some examples of events in which greeting card companies profit would include: birthdays, holidays, anniversaries, graduations, injuries or illness, and death. Out of these events, the cards that sell the most are birthday cards followed up by sympathy cards. For the consumer, they are celebrating a loved one’s life and consoling a loved one; for the producer, they are profiting the most off of both life and death. To have positivity in your life you need to stay the consumer, positively keeping others in mind, not the producer, negatively gaining off of others’ loss. Having a parallel connection to life, greeting cards either focus on life or focus on death. The cards that celebrate life, birthday cards, “are still the best-selling card type, accounting for more than half of the total cards sold” (Greeting Card Association). Hence, in life, it pays more to support the positive over the negative.
Being a very profitable industry, the “annual retail sales of greeting cards are estimated between $7 and $8 billion” given “Americans purchase approximately 6.5 billion greeting cards each year” (Greeting Card Association). Because Americans pay an extensive amount on greeting cards, Americans stand to save a lot of money if they create them themselves. As children, one does not have the ability to go out and purchase a pre-made card, so they are forced to use their creative side to express emotion. People not only stand to save money by making cards themselves but also benefit psychologically. Writing a card forces you to express your emotion in your own words, not Hallmarks’, and think about another person in your life. Now, if we as humans can write support for others, then we can definitely write support for ourselves. Moreover, a study done by psychologist Adam Grant demonstrates how “expressive writing has also been linked to improved mood, well-being, and reduced stress levels for those who do it regularly” (Ciotti). The idea is that if a person continually writes positive thoughts and words of self-encouragement, then they are more likely to believe and assimilate those positive thoughts into their everyday actions.
With writing being a catalyst of self-positivity, I challenge whoever is reading this post to try positive self-reflection journaling. Furthermore, I recognize people have busy schedules and may not have the time to sit down and write a page about themselves. I assure you this challenge will not take more than five minutes a day. I also recognize that the task of writing about oneself is difficult because in our society the idea of complementing yourself has been ingrained as an action of selfishness. I assure you complimenting yourself and finding self-confidence is not selfish, but rather selfless. If one possesses a more positive view of themselves then they can use that positivity to express kindness to others.
Take out a piece of paper. Fold it in half. Bring out your colored pencils and transform into a child again. Seeing bright colors will provide you with more energy. Draw an image of something you love. The first thing you see on the card is something that brings you happiness. On the inside write down three things you like about yourself or three positive events that happened to you today. By doing this task daily, you will focus your mind to focus on the positive and connect the idea of yourself with positivity. To take this challenge one step further place your cards in the same location daily. At the beginning of each day, read a card or two. By reading the card first- before opening your phone to social media, a sole producer of self-consciousness, and before having the time to construct a negative thought- you can start your day with a positive mindset. Read the card first because the positive words might just influence how you perceive the gift.
Sources:
Ciotti, Gregory. “The Psychological Benefits of Writing - Help Scout.” Help Scout: Shared Inbox, Help Center, & Live Chat Software, Help Scout, 20 Apr. 2016, https://www.helpscout.com/blog/benefits-of-writing/.
“Greeting Cards Info to Know - Greeting Card Association.” Greeting Cards- Info to Know, Greeting Card Association, 1 Feb. 2020, https://www.greetingcard.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Greeting-Card-Facts-2020.pdf.