February 22, 2006
Thank God for Them
Thank THEM!
I used to work in the non-profit sector and usually one of my tasks was
working directly with volunteers. Obtaining and training volunteers is an
expensive part of operating a non-profit organization, yet volunteers
are vital to the survival of non-profit organizations. They are
valuable resources, and organizations work to keep them as long as they
can. The trick is in learning how to keep those volunteers.
Obviously volunteering isn't about the money, for they are paid
nothing. And while it's true volunteers believe in the organization's
mission, they can donate their time and energy to so many deserving
causes, that really there has to be more to it than that. Ultimately,
keeping volunteers comes down to how you treat them. And those of us
working in this area had a golden rule of sorts: Thank every volunteer
seven times.
Yes, seven times.
No, you don't repeat 'thank you' seven times. But you are conscious of
every opportunity to thank them such as when they arrive, when they
leave etc -- even creating times to thank them, just so that you are
certain they are appreciated.
Wouldn't it be wonderful if we all took the time to thank and appreciate
the ones around us? Those people that we love and cherish, the people
that help us get through bad days, the ones who are not only there to
come home to, but make that house a home -- these are the people we
count on the most, yet take for granted the most. And we don't need to
do that. We can, we should make the time to thank them.
That's what Thank You cards are for: they are ways for us seize very
chance we have to make our loved ones feel like loved ones.
By DEANNA DAHLSAD
Posted by photocartoonist at 12:50 PM
February 20, 2006
Don't Wish Your Life Away
By DEANNA DAHLSAD
When I was little a girl, I played with Grandma's clothing and Mother's
makeup -- playing dress-up and wishing I were older. Both of them would
giggle at my appearance. Sometimes I would be offended. I wanted them
to see me as a grown-up lady, and I told them so. But then, Grandma
would say, "Dee Dee, don't wish your life away."
As I grew older, Grandma would use that saying whenever I wished for
something. "I wish it was Christmas", "I wish it was summer vacation,"
"I wish I was old enough to date", "I wish I was old enough to get into
the night clubs"; they were all met with "Don't wish your life away."
I don't know exactly when I understood what Grandma meant, but it was
somewhere between my girlish attempts to look older, and my womanly
attempts to look younger. Suddenly, instead of spending time at the
mirror trying to be a Big Girl and wishing for my next birthday, I was
in front of the mirror trying to look younger, and wishing my next
birthday was, well, never.
But, if I had my birthdays as often as I had wished when I was a little
girl, I would have missed the years on the jungle gym. I would have
missed springs and autumns. I would have missed sleep-overs with
girlfriends -- I would have missed my life.
And, conversely, if I didn't have birthdays now, well, at worst I'd be
dead. At best, I'd be frozen here, at 41. Either way, I'd miss my
children growing-up. I'd miss their years on the jungle gyms, their
sleep-over parties, their first dates, and the seasons of their lives.
My grandmother had a saying, "Don't wish your life away." I didn't
understand when I was young, but I do now.
Posted by photocartoonist at 4:43 PM | Comments (1)
February 14, 2006
It's Me and You on Valentines Day
By DEANNA DAHLSAD
If there is one maxim in the greeting card biz, it's that 90% of cards
are purchased by women, and of those, 90% are sent to other women.
While it's very true that women are known to be more social, more
communicative, than men; and that women are usually keepers of the
hearth, which apparently includes maintaining all family ties to the
extended family as well as friends; I do believe there is another factor
in these numbers: Valentine's Day.
Not only do we giddily select our gifts & greeting cards for our mates,
but we are aware -- painfully so -- of our girlfriends who do not have
romance this holiday.
We remember, all too well, how without cards and flowers from a man, we
felt alone and spent the evening alone with a box or two of heart-shaped
chocolates we purchased for ourselves. We'd throw ourselves a pity
party that included on the list of festivities, a listing of all the
friends that didn't even think of us this holiday.
Out of empathy for our dateless and mateless friends, we send Valentines
Day cards to cheer them up. Or maybe we just do it out of fear that if
we don't send our pals Valentines Day greetings (as some sort of
sacrifice to romance), Aphrodite herself will be offended and take our
love away. But whatever the reason, we do send Valentines Day
greetings to our single friends. And this is where the math kicks in.
For every woman sending one Valentine to her man, there may be a man
sending one in return. So there, the math is almost equal, right? But
that same woman has how many single friends, sisters, sister-in-laws,
cousins, coworkers-workers, etc. to send cards to? This year for me,
it's 11. That's a 12-1 ratio in our house alone. What's the ratio at
in your house?
Now men...men hate Valentine's Day for all the wrong reasons.
As Valentines Day approaches, many men moan and mumble about this 'fake'
holiday. They see it as a test they are doomed to fail, or a trap they
are forced to fall into.
But while men fear this holiday, they really ought to be happy. No, not
because I am preaching on the virtues of mongamy (though there are
many), but because here is a chance to address one large relationship
issue: a woman feeling as if she is taken for granted.
Valentine's Day is not a test, nor a trap; it's an opportunity for a man
to show his woman that he does appreciate her. And unlike private dates
of relationship importance, such as anniversaries, Valentine's Day is a
holiday as noticeable as Christmas -- So there are public reminders to
prompt men into making some effort.
And that's all we women really want, a little effort put into showing us
how much we mean to you.
Is that too much to ask? (That's a rhetorical question!)
HAPPY VALENTINES DAY
Posted by photocartoonist at 12:15 AM
February 8, 2006
Giving More Thanks
By DEANNA DAHLSAD
Some might argue with my statement that the Thank You card is
unexpected. For example, when you give a gift, a Thank You card is to be
sent in return. While this is a lovely tradition, it's not done as
often as it should be. And we, the gift senders, we understand that the
gift is appreciated, even if life is so busy that folks forget or cannot
keep up with these common courtesies. So we don't really expect to
receive these cards anymore.
(If you are one of the few folks who actually uphold your end in this
tradition, that's wonderful -- Don't stop!)
But this is not the only use of Thank You cards. In fact, it's the way
I least use my Thank You cards. My number one use of Thank You cards is
to send them anytime, just as a reminder of how special a person is to me.
Unlike the 'thinking of you' cards or the 'get well soon' cards, Thank
You cards have no down side to them. They are not sent because we are
miserable, or because we think the receiver is miserable. They are
given because the sender is aware of the real reason for sending a card
in either situation: you are thankful for having this person in your
life, and you want them to know it.
The Thank You card expresses more than a situation, it expresses the
relationship, and perhaps even more significantly, allows the sender to
note the specific qualities they admire about the person they are
writing to.
Thank You cards express our appreciation, warmth, and affection. They
send a simple but powerful message: I appreciate you.
And no one ever gets tired of hearing that.
Posted by photocartoonist at 11:28 PM
February 2, 2006
Thank You, Thank You Very Much
By DEANNA DAHLSAD
Most greeting cards, paper or ecards, are expected. We expect them for
our birthdays and at holiday times. We expect them for our personal
events such as anniversaries, new babies, and (knock wood) hospital
visits. We even expect cards for the events in other people's lives,
such as holiday cards for their holidays, invitations to their birthday
parties etc. But there is one card, one greeting that stands above all
of these.
This greeting is special because it's unexpected. Not only is it
surprising to receive this card for 'no reason', but it's flattering to
receive it because this card is truly all about the receiver.
What is this powerful card? The Thank You card.
I've long been in love with Thank You cards. Ever since I moved out of
my parents house, it's the one thing I've always had stocked at my
house. Even today, with ecards ever near, I am never without my stack of
paper Thank You cards. I've run out of toothpaste, milk, bread, cat food,
and even toilet paper. I've run out of gas. But never Thank You cards.
If I'd feel naked without my paper cards, I am also addicted to Thank
You ecards. In the next few entries, I'm going to sing my praises of the
Thank You card – and by the end, you'll be convinced it's the one
greeting card you cannot live well without.
Posted by photocartoonist at 2:13 PM