The Magic of the Written Word
The remarkable story of starting over, the greeting cards that got me there, and a big announcement.
This edition of Feeling! Magazine is free for everyone because Squarespace sponsored it!
I think the most prized possession I have is a box of cards I’ve kept throughout my life. (I have scanned a precious portion of my archives to share with you in this article.)
I keep thinking about the juxtaposition of greeting cards. They accompany life’s most celebratory and life’s most devastating moments. Isn’t that such a fascinating thing? How traditions are similar at both ends of joy and grief? When there is cause to rejoice, cards and flowers arrive. When there is cause to mourn, cards and flowers arrive.
In jubilation, tears come unprompted. The birthday candles appear in a homemade cake, carried by someone you love from around the corner. He’s on his knee asking you a question. The call with good news finally comes. And in moments of sadness, tears come unprompted just the same. Gravesides, hospitals, sitting alone in the car.
For every color in the human spectrum of emotion, there is the written word in an envelope.
The currency of the handwritten letter is increasing in value. Do you ever read something online and wonder, did they actually write that? There is no way to tell whether a well-paid ghostwriter or a subscription bot etched the words out. We trace cadence and em dashes and wonder if a human is sharing their feelings with us, or if elaborate code is, and try to derive some sentiment either way.
But I have my dad’s handwriting memorized. From the letters penned on the outside of an envelope, I am able to discern if my grandmother, husband, mom, college roommate, or landlord has left me a note. From the way the ink hits the paper, I feel like I am able to discern the emotional state of my writer, like an extra layer of communication.
The practice of keeping cards has always felt instinctual. I’ve stored cards in a felt grey box in my closet that I brought with me to a dorm, into my first home, every home after that, and now it sits at the top of my wardrobe in New York. It holds birthday cards, notes from high school classmates, letters from my parents and family, and notes from students I taught. (I have a second box for every love letter from Connor since 2012.) According to an online test, my love language is words of affirmation. I agree, as evidenced by this lifelong practice of savoring and saving words that mean a lot to me.
In college, I started drawing greeting cards in my dorm and printing them, then selling them on campus. I had an iPad and a dream, and I did not have enough information to be daunted by starting a small business. Only blind hope reigned. I ended up building an entire business out of greeting cards after classes and on weekends. I graduated in May and signed a lease on a storefront in July.
The crowning glory of my storefront was the greeting card bar, where you could pick any of my cards, any colored envelope, and then a scoop of your choice of confetti. I’d sit at the register and watch guests meticulously choose their card, envelope, and confetti, and wonder how far the card would go. Who was it for? What would they write in it? Sympathy cards came to the register, congratulations cards stuffed with confetti, birthday cards, and romantic cards. It felt like such an honor to keep shop while all these moments were marked for others — an honor to play a small part.
My store closed about a year after the pandemic hit, because it couldn’t weather the absence of foot traffic. And since then, I’ve woefully daydreamed about greeting cards and that small part I got to play in that sacred practice of writing a letter for life’s big and little moments. I’ve really missed that role.
That’s why I am so excited to share with you that after a four-year hiatus from my dream and a life full of vibrantly colorful greeting cards, I am planning on bringing that vision back to life this spring.
Feeling! Press will be a resurrection of a dream I’ve had in my heart for a very long time, but refined by my experience in the painful process of starting, closing, waiting, and conquering the fear of starting again. The designs will nod to the sunshiney illustrations of my early twenties, but somehow be formed by how I’ve become even more of myself in the losses. It is a true “belly of the beast” comeback to revisit this loss with a newfound hope. It took a long time to even admit out loud how badly I wanted to design cards again, but now I am setting up for a launch. It is a risk I’ve ultimately decided is worth taking, because it feels so intrinsically tied to me that I can’t ignore it.
From 2012 to 2013, Connor and I secretly stuffed notes in each other’s lockers when no one was looking. We told no one at school we were writing to one another, and we hardly spoke in person. But on paper, we revealed feelings toward each other. My heart would leap when I opened my locker door, and a folded-up piece of notebook paper would fall out.
It felt fitting to ask the man I’ve written love letters back and forth with for over a decade to join me in starting this new card venture. His expertise in documentary filmmaking will shine through as we plan to produce short films, even fictional stories, to accompany collections of cards and build a brand that feels like a world to enter. Think how the American Girl company made long pieces of fiction and fully realized characters to accompany their collections, but with greeting card designs. I think our little apartment may be on the verge of a creative renaissance.
I plan on launching this digital stationery store this spring, with new designs, global shipping, and I’m trying to work out how to build a digital confetti bar. (I’ll keep you posted!) I am planning on approaching this with more documentation and welcoming you into the process before the collections release. If you are so inclined, I’d really love your feedback on concept designs and how I can make greeting cards that feel like more than a last-minute pick, but a writing practice in your life. It would be an honor to make cards that accompany your monumental moments.
Right now, I am in the process of branding and refining the visual identity. I have selected colors and type, and am working to strike the right balance before I share anything.
As for the digital home of Feeling! Press, I’m still figuring out how to build it exactly to my imagination, but I know I want a digital space that feels as considered and beautiful as a physical space would be. If you’re in a similar boat and building something of your own, Squarespace is always worth exploring (I’ve used Squarespace for years for so many projects).
They’re offering something lovely to readers of this newsletter: a free trial to get started, and 10% off your first website or domain purchase with code FEELING. I thought that was worth passing along.
I am interested in exploring Squarespace's template & brand kit features, where I can update my branding and colors seamlessly across the whole site for a new look. And then, of course, I am exploring the e-commerce features for making a store that is as visually stunning as it will be easy to navigate. I’ve shipped my calendars for years from my Squarespace site, and know the internal tracking/shipping system is seamless. Which will be essential, as my plan is to ship them by hand from my apartment!
A fresh look for Feeling! Magazine will accompany the rebrand. I think it’s going to be our best look yet. Supporting subscribers of the Magazine will have exclusive access to new card designs, collections, and sales before anyone else.
I am excited to bring you inside of this new endeavor, and am hopeful to make beautiful things that can impact others with joy. In an increasingly digital world, there is nothing like a letter in the mail.
And in a world that feels dark, desperate, and defeated, my hope is to bring you work that feels like an alternative to despair. Joy and color abound, and I think so much of it lives in the words we share with one another, pressed in a greeting card.
And a note to anyone who had a dream that was shut down, lost, or otherwise taken away — take time to heal, but please don’t forget it. People like me need the beautiful things in your heart. Restorations and resurrections happen. Hold on to that hope while you wait.
XO Jenna O.
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YASSSS I AM STOKED FOR THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh I’m so excited about this! I also have always adored making & sending cards, so excited to see your designs! It would be great to have some “just because” cards :)