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The Lost Art of Handwritten Snail Mail [1]

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Date: 2022-09-06

Postcards from a campaign to encourage new voters

I'm heading into town tomorrow, so I made sure to complete my first set of 25 postcards earlier today, the first of three mailers that will go out. I really wanted to do something to help get out the vote for the upcoming midterms in some way, and writing is something I enjoy, so I was pretty excited to be able to sign up for this.

I connected with dkos member snowbored through his diaries when I first became an active member here, and have followed the efforts of his organization, Hope Springs, ever since. I'm particularly fond of grassroots organizations that put boots on the ground and engage with the community, and these guys do exactly that. When they announced their postcard campaign was upcoming, I knew I had finally found a way I could contribute.

There were a couple of defined options to choose from, but I was drawn to the campaign specifically targeted to reach new voters. I think that has a lot to do with the fact that I've recently moved to another state, and in that respect am a ‘new’ voter myself.

I was so excited when the postcards came in the mail, I couldn't wait to get started. I had to, though, wait, that is, because there was a bit of a lag time before the addresses and the instructions arrived. Typically for me, by the time that happened, I was absorbed by another project and actually forgot about it for a few days.

Knowing I had to venture out into civilization for an upcoming dental appointment, I got out the cards on Sunday, printed out the addresses and instructions, and set up a little workstation to get to writing.

I started with the addresses first, and used a blank piece of cardstock to go down line by line as I addressed each card to make sure I didn't mix up any towns and zip codes, or other data.

I took my time with this, taking frequent breaks, checking out the diary comments I was following between each few cards. Handwriting is not a particular skillset I use regularly, and I didn't want to overdo it. Hand cramp is for real, y'all!



In the process of transcribing addresses, I got to know several new to me towns in the state, and the intimacy of penning the names by hand gave me a sense of familiarity and camaraderie with each new voter.

Mailing locations completed, I started to think about what I wanted to say in the words on the card, and used some of the suggestions from the printed instructions to compose the first one. Silly me, I actually thought I would just use the same text throughout. Of course it didn't work out exactly like that. I found that I was regularly editing myself, and each iteration would generate another idea I wanted to express. So each card is unique in message. I hope that means something to the recipients, but even if it doesn't, it energized me.



My instructions reminded me more than once that I was more than likely writing to young people and that knowledge gave me additional inspiration for my task. I really wanted to be an encourager and motivator, while expressing gratitude, and impressing upon each of them the importance and value of their vote.

And I wanted to keep it simple, and short — there's only so much room on a postcard! and to the point.

By the time I got to the last few cards today, I was not only surprised to be reaching the end, but also a little disappointed. It was a truly pleasurable task, and not much effort really, that I hope will yield some positive results.

The next set of cards won't go out until October, but I'm thinking to engage in some practice handwriting exercises between now and then to hone my skills.

One of the most exciting parts of this long term objective Hope Springs has designed goes much deeper than the postcards portion I'm engaged in.

The writing component is structured in a way that mailing the cards signals the organization to follow up with reinforcing strategies for each of the new voters on my list, so there's a network of activity that happens with each individual voter around each segment of the campaign.

This is spelled out in detail in the instructions I received, and I am really impressed with how that has been organized. Knowing about that process and all of the volunteers working together in the ‘background’ has done even more to generate a feeling within me of being connected.

I'm excited about the midterms, and very happy I could contribute in this small way to what I believe is going to be great and big and True Blue. Thank you, Hope Springs and snowbored for the opportunity.

I'd love to hear about your experiences with the upcoming midterms, how you're feeling, and contributing. Care to share?



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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/9/6/2121212/-The-Lost-Art-of-Handwritten-Snail-Mail

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