On Writing a Thank You Note

The computer screen stares up at you smugly. Outlook knows that you’re floundering, and it just doesn’t care.

hey just wanna say

Nope. That’s not quite right. You hit and hold the backspace key and take a swig of the coffee/ /herbal tea/Miso soup beside you. Stone cold now. This has taken a while.

You glance out the window. The rain has cleared. Outside, your backyard is awash in the brilliant afternoon light. It is all very still, almost like a painting.

You snap the blind shut.

No more getting distracted. Stupid sun.

This thank you email won’t write itself.

Take 2:

Dear Sal,

I’m getting in touch becau

Yikes. Too formal. It sounds like you’re writing on behalf of a strata committee.

You adjust the height of your chair. Got to have the right chair height for this type of work. You roll up your sleeves, proverbially and literally. You twirl a pen between your finger and your thumb thoughtfully. You gaze at the photo of Shibuya station on your desktop.

Then you say, out loud, confidently, It’s go time.

But it is not go time, unfortunately.

Your heart is there, but the words won’t come.

Finally, you open Chrome, or Safari, or Netscape Navigator 1999, or whatever – we don’t mind.

Is it a bit self-indulgent of us to assume that you have Good Day People saved to your favourites? We’re going to assume it anyway.

You open up the thank you hampers section.

A lot of options. How to choose? Here’s what we suggest:

1. Pause and be thankful.

No, we don’t mean you need to crack open over your gratitude journal and clock in a few entries (though if you want to, don’t let us stop you). What we mean is that the first step of selecting thank you hampers is to relive the moment or moments that that brought you joy, lightened the load, brightened the day, or brought the champagne when you were least expecting it 

2. Embrace the surprise.

To be clear: you’ll know everything that goes into our thank you hampers. We put all those nice photos of craft beer, small batch coffee, hand maid candles, and independent press zines on the website for a reason. What we mean when we suggest that you embrace the surprise is that we’ve crafted hampers that are designed to delight. Would you think to pair salted macadamias with gin made from botanicals local to the Sydney region? Maybe not. But we know that when good things collide in surprising ways, great things happen (also, Australian Distilling Co gin and Wondaree macadamias are delicious).

3. Go with your gut.

We’ve done all the leg work to make sure our thank you hampers are filled to the brim with bespoke, unique products. But we deliberate over combinations, we select the best small produce, we build relationships with artisans across Australia so you can pick with confidence then send your thank you hamper on its merry way. (You have decided to go with the Casual Clare hamper, by the way. Nice choice.)

    What happens now that you’ve made your selection? Our team of Do Gooders get to work. And you can get back to whatever job it is you do.

    You lean back on your chair, content, satisfied, almost delirious. You open the blinds with enthusiasm and the light pours into the room like water into an open porthole in a ship.

    But then you remember with dread something that you still need to do:

    Write the thank you message.

    That takes us to our last tip:

    4. Write simply, and from the heart.

    You don’t need to say everything in a thank you note. This isn’t a performance review for your friend, or your co-worker, or your sister, or the neighbour who takes the bins out every week even though there’s a roster and you’re definitely on it.

    Simply, you say to yourself. From the heart.

    You return to the email you’ve been drafting.

    Hi Sal,

    It’s been a tough year and you’ve been there for me through thick and thin. That has meant the world to me.

    I’ve put a little something in the mail for you. I can’t wait to see you in person soon.

    Yes, that will do.

     You sign off.

    This has been a good way to end the day.