The Psychology Of Seasons Greetings

Dear Dr. LeCrone:

Please comment on the various types of seasons greetings in our culture.

-A reader in Louisiana

Dear Reader:

An interesting topic indeed.

The holiday season provides a variety of ways to remember friends and family. E-mail and telephone calls are the communication of choice for some people. Christmas caroling is a unique way of sending a message in song. And gifts are yet another way of telling people we remember them.

Perhaps one of the most creative ways of communicating during this time is Christmas or season greetings cards and letters.

Some senders want to express religious thoughts, while others prefer to speak in more general terms.

Some senders select a serious and conventional message, while others choose one with humor and wit.

Some senders choose to combine a holiday greeting with a pictorial update. Does he send a picture of the entire family, or just the children? Is the family engaged in activity, or posing in a more formal setting? What the sender chooses to display in the picture often leads to interesting speculation by the receiver. Often the taking of these photos becomes an annual event.

Does the card include a personal handwritten message, or does the sender choose to simply stick with the printed greeting? If personal messages are sent, the sender can choose to be more or less intimate, which results in a variety of reactions on the part of the receiver.

Perhaps the most interesting and revealing message of the holidays is contained in the holiday letter. Many senders seem to enjoy taking the opportunity to expound upon their good fortunes of the past year, while other letters may be mostly sad and pessimistic. Some electronic holiday newsletters are becoming quite elaborate with beautiful graphics and hilarious attachments.

Most holiday letters contain a realistic mixture of good fortune and tragedy, hope and disappointment, laughter and sorrow. These letters leave the reader with feelings of warmth and friendship and are certainly a means of keeping long-distance friendships alive and flourishing.

In fact, most of us enjoy the personalized messages and appreciate the time and effort it takes to remember our friends and relatives. We treasure them, display them in our homes, and consider the exchange of greetings an important part of the holiday season.

If you haven’t done it yet remember the old saying “reach out and touch someone.”