Wish You Were Here: Toward a Positive Psychology Postcard Intervention

In a society that is obsessed with efficiency and doing more every day, there is an ever increasing benefit to slowing down. Developing a practice of sending postcards may help individuals to focus on connection and relationships, a crucial component of well-being that has been challenged during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper explores the unique position and potential application of postcards as a means of conveying positive emotion and connection effectively between the sender and recipient. Leveraging the well-being topics of mindfulness, positive emotion, positivity resonance, savoring, gratitude, and surprise, theoretical opportunities are identified for positive psychology to be incorporated into the actual design, art, and intention imbued into a positive postcard intervention. Doing so may enhance the impact of the intervention further, although further research is needed.