Ever wondered what your old school friends are up to? What about that favorite aunt who you haven’t spoken to simply because you’ve been too busy? This year, there is a reason and a special time to make the effort to reach out. Take advantage of the newly created National Thinking of You Week and get back in touch with the wonderful people in your life.

National Thinking of You Week was created by the Greeting Card Association (GCA) and is scheduled to be held the week of September 22 through September 28, 2014. It is intended to be a week where we reach out to each other, spreading cheer and joy by sending a “thinking of you” greeting card. The GCA is using the time until the end of September to raise awareness of this week-long event. They are holding contests and publicizing information about the week in order to educate the public on the rewards of simply sending cards.

In this day and age of digital communications and hectic schedules, we have lost something very important: a time-tested method of keeping connected to other people in our lives. In olden days, letter writing was not only a very important skill; it was the only method for long-distance communications. It could be time consuming, but when you received a letter, you knew that you were being thought of and remembered by someone else.

In today’s digital world, a text message or an email can be used to keep in touch with others. But greeting cards, like hand-written letters, have a much more powerful impact than something digital. Greeting cards are shown to have more emotional and personal impact on the recipient than an email or Facebook post. The recipient can actually feel the card, hold it and even hug it or save it for later. It provides a long-lasting emotional connection that electronic methods just can’t offer.

By using greeting cards, with or without a hand-written note included, we can not only spread a message of warmth and love, but we can share visual artistic designs that bring a smile to our own face as well as our friends and family. Sending a paper greeting card means you’ve taken the time to do some shopping and selected that perfect message for someone special. And a greeting card received in the mail, amidst the bills and circulars, is something to celebrate, especially if that card simply conveys that you’re loved and cherished.

Plan on engaging yourself and reconnect with your friends and family during National Thinking of You week by picking at least seven people that could really use a fun and colorful card that reminds them how much you care.

Learn more here at the GCA website: GCA Launches National Thinking of You Week.