A postcard is a tiny canvas. On one side, a picture someone else chose. On the other, a few square centimeters of space for you. Most of us fill it with the same three lines: "Weather great. Food delicious. Wish you were here."
But a postcard can hold a whole journey, if you choose your fifty words well.
The rule of one moment
Don't try to summarize the trip. Choose a single moment and describe it. One café, one street, one smell, one view. A single specific moment makes the reader feel they were there. A list of places feels like an itinerary.
A simple structure
1. Where you are, right now. "Writing this on a stone wall above the harbor." 2. One sensory detail. "The bells have just rung, and the whole town smells of bread." 3. One thing that made you think of them. "A dog here looks exactly like yours." 4. A warm closing. "Wish I could hand you a coffee. Love, E."
That's about fifty words, and it feels like a whole afternoon.
An example
"Writing from a bench in a tiny square in Lyon. Plane trees, old men playing pétanque, the clink of glasses from the café behind me. I bought a pear tart and thought of your grandmother's. The light here is so soft. Sending you a little of it. Love, A."
Small touches that make a postcard special
- Write the date and the place in the corner. Future you, and they, will treasure it. - Choose the picture for them, not for you. A painting they love, a place you went together. - Use the edges. A tiny sketch, a pressed petal taped in the corner, an arrow pointing to your window on the picture. - Send one even if you're not traveling. A postcard of your own city, describing an ordinary afternoon, is a lovely surprise.
A postcard every month
The Letter & Magazine subscription includes a postcard with every monthly letter, along with a meditation and a story about art, plus a seasonal issue of "(meditating) On Art". Little windows into another place, arriving in your mailbox.
Remember to take as much time as you need, and meet me at the next one.
Love, Evi