This is the first year I can remember not sending Christmas cards to everyone by the day after Thanksgiving. In past years, I designed many Christmas cards and had them ready to mail by the time the Advent season began. Not this year.
This has become my year of wandering in the desert, waiting for the promised land.
According to biblical scholars, the Israelites should have reached the Promised Land in about 11 days, at the most, a month. Yet, God had them wander for 40 years until the disobedient generation died out.
Now, I hope that is not my fate, but somehow there must be a lesson I must learn before being released from this half-year of purgatory. This time of waiting for my new chapter to begin.
As the Tom Petty song goes,
“The waiting is the hardest part
Every day you get one more yard
You take it on faith, you take it to the heart
The waiting is the hardest part.”
Then, the short Instagram post I wrote for Compel Pro Writers showed up, and I reconsidered my lack of enthusiasm for Christmas Cards. So, I started returning holiday greetings two days before Christmas.
If you haven’t corresponded with your friends and family, here is the essay. I hope you find it inspirational. And, remember I love the mail. As a child, I lived for the mail. It was my tunnel to the outside world. Going to retrieve the mail from that ornate locked box at the Fredonia post office was magical.
My mother used to mail-order many things from the Sears and Roebuck or Montgomery Ward’s catalog. She would fill out the order blank, write the amount on the inside of the envelope, and send me to get a money order. I would then put that in the envelope, seal it shut, and mail it. What a privilege for a young girl. What a responsibility.
So, for your right-before-Christmas nudging to get out your cards and a pen or pencil and get to work, I am copying the selected post for your enjoyment.
And for those of you not receiving a card in the mail, as well as those who do — Merry Merry Christmas from me to you.
NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF THE PENCIL
Never underestimate the power of the pencil. Everyone has one. A lowly yellow-colored eraser-tipped graphite pencil lying forgotten in the junk drawer of your kitchen.
If you are feeling stuck as a writer, remember there’s power in that pencil.
Every writer has days when the keyboard remains silent. Your novel dead ends. Confidence has left the building, and you wonder, “Am I a writer?”
Yes. If you write, you are a writer. And, some days it pays to walk away from electronics and write.
Pick up that pencil, sharpen the tip, and write a letter, a note of encouragement, a list for groceries, or a honey-do list. Write on a scrap of paper, an old envelope, a recycled greeting card, or catch up on your journal.
Just because you haven’t a goal, a deadline, or aren’t writing to be read doesn’t mean you aren’t a writer. Writer’s write.
Pencils put the tactile back in the process of writing. Imagine all the novels, poems, and essays that would not exist today without the pencil, pen, or typewriter.
Cherish those words that would not exist if you didn’t take the time to write them down. Think of the love you could share with a handwritten note delivered at just the right time to a friend. Remember how it warmed your heart to find a handwritten note next to a recipe shared by your mom, an old friend’s birthday card?
No one saves Word documents in a dresser drawer or a heart-shaped Valentine’s box. Discovering a collection of letters or an old, worn-out notebook filled with daily life depicted in an elder’s shaky cursive is a treasure. A precious life story. A glimpse into another time, perhaps.
Tell me what you are going to write today.
INDYchildrendotme 
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