Stem

Write a letter! We have the tools to get you on track. Read about the seeds for inspiration to get started! Then if you are having difficulties sending your petals, read the pollen section.

Seeds

Today communication happens in the blink of an eye. It takes mere seconds for a text, instant message, or email to reach its destination. That’s why receiving a letter is so special! Someone took the time to make a trip to the mailbox or the post office, took the time to brave the elements, and risked getting a paper cut, so that you would receive a personalized message.
Seriously though, paper cuts aside, writing a letter to someone can at first seem like a daunting task. This is why we have included some of the introductory paragraphs we have used in letters. These paragraphs explain what Sending Petals is all about and gives a bit of context to the lucky receiver of your letter! You can simply cut and paste these paragraphs as they are, use them as a template, read them for inspiration, or even just decide that you can do wayyyy better! It’s up to you!
Nous avons aussi inclus un paragraphe d’introduction en français si ça te tente d’envoyer une lettre à quelqu’un qui préfèrerais recevoir une lettre dans cette langue!
Happy writing!
P.S. If you have an intro paragraph that you want to share with other petal-senders, please send it to us at sendingpetals@gmail.com or put it in the comments so we can be inspired!

Often, I meet incredible people. People who genuinely care about others and help them blossom. People who naturally add beauty to the world. People who, simply by their façon d’être inspire me. I sometimes get an irresistible urge to send flowers to these individuals but as you might know, shipping is expensive, not always practical, and it’s hard to fit a bouquet beautiful enough to do these folks justice in an envelope! Luckily, I have found a solution to this. I will be sending letters (who do surprisingly fit quite well in envelopes…) to tell them one simple thing. Thank you. This is something I fondly like to call “Sending Petals”.

J’ai souvent envie de dire aux gens qui m’entourent jusqu’à qu’elle point ils sont spectaculaires. C’est des gens qui ont aidé à faire fleurir d’autres personnes. Des gens qui ont rendus le monde un peu plus beau. Des gens qui par leur travail, leurs idées ou leurs façon d’être réussissent à mettre un parfum dans la vie des autres. J’ai souvent le désir de leurs envoyer des fleurs mais c’est un peu cher par la poste, pas vraiment pratique, et que parfois ça donne des allergies… La solution que j’ai trouvée est donc d’envoyer des lettres à ces gens. Et au lieu d’être des fleurs c’est lettres je les appelle affectueusement des pétales de reconnaissance!

Often, I see people doing incredible work. Even though I have not met these people I feel a strong urge to express my gratitude to them. These are the people who naturally make the world a more beautiful place, that help others flourish, that like a flower in spring, give me hope of the summer to come. I sometimes get an incredible urge to send flowers to these people. Sending a bouquet by the mail is not always the most environmentally friendly choice though (and it can be expensive), because it takes high-speed delivery for it to be fresh, it must be well wrapped, and it can take up enough space in a truck. Luckily I have found a solution to this. I will be sending letters, who are fairly easy and compact to send to tell these people one simple thing. Thank you. For your work. For your message. For being you. This is something I fondly like to call “Sending Petals”.

Pollen

Flowers use their pollen to multiply. A single flower can transform a whole landscape when its pollen is transported by bees or the wind. The pollen of this flower can also be crossed with the pollen of other flowers to make new varieties of flowers and create new petals of every color and shape imaginable.
Here we decided to include a few tips on how to send your petals in the wind (… or in the mail) and to make sure they find their way to their destination.

1. The first challenge is to find the address of the person you are sending a letter to. If you’re writing to someone close to you, you might already know their address. If you don’t, personal connections are often a good way to get it. If you want to send a letter to a business or a band, they almost always have contact information on their websites. Personal addresses of people you don’t know are trickier to find. We usually use Canada 411 as a starting point or the local yellow pages.
2. Put a stamp on the letter! If you live in Canada you can send a letter from one side of the country to the other (over 7000 Kms!) for a flat-fee of 51¢ per stamp. It’s a bargain!
3. If you don’t want the person to know your name or address but still want to communicate with them, send us your scanned letter at sendingpetals@gmail.com and we will add it to our blog. Invite the person who received to comment on the post if they want.

Sharing your letter on our blog is also a great way to inspire others to write letters and to show more people how great your petal-receiver is! It’s also a wonderful way to showcase your great work. If some of the information on the letter is too personal to share on the web, don’t hesitate to use a free program like Paint to black out those lines that you don’t want shared with the world. It’s up to you!
So join us in planting our garden and send us a scanned copy of your petals! It will be a pleasure to read them together. Everytime we finish reading or writing a letter we can’t help but smile. Why not share the feeling with as many people as possible?