Greeting Card Confessional

So I was talking to one of the older bros this week, because it was his birthday and we got to discussing greeting cards.  I then realized I need to make a long-overdue confession and perhaps begin to work this out in my psyche so that it no longer troubles me: greeting cards seriously confuse me. 

No, that’s not exactly true.  See, the thing is, I have a general understanding of the why, when, and how of greeting card etiquette but I am still a little uneasy with the execution.  My biggest issue is that I never quite know what to do with the cards I receive, so inevitably they end up in a confused, jumbled pile that I ignore for a year or two before forcing myself to sift through them.  I figure there are basically two groups of greeting-card people: savers and chuckers.  However, I don’t quite fit either group and so my identity is muddled; thus the source of my anxiety. 

See, I feel vaguely guilty for recycling cards that I KNOW a loved one spent focused time and emotion selecting.  I hate the thought of making anyone feel like I didn’t sincerely appreciate the gesture.  (Which is, incidentally, very illogical because in most cases, the card-givers wouldn’t be aware of your personal saver/chucker status anyway.)  But if you don’t recycle them, what do you DO with them?  Put them in a folder and re-read them?  Well, how do you file them: by year? by occasion? How often am I realistically supposed to re-read them? Should I feel guilty if I don’t re-read them? What if I never re-read them and leave a humongous archive of greeting cards that hold no meaning for anyone else when I die?

Martha Stewart fanatics may point out another set of potential crafty recycling options that involve whimsical re-use scenarios.  Sorry, I’m not the crafty type.  This avenue is a dead-end for me.   The exception to this general rule is Christmas / holiday cards, which I have no problem artfully displaying during the season and then recycling.

Right now I’m basically at a stalemate: recycling non-critical cards and saving funny or sentimental cards in the afore-mentioned jumble.  However, this is pretty inefficient…any idea how fast that pile grows??

Further, this general psychological unrest spills over into my card-buying ethos for others.  My confusion is expressed in a vague lack of commitment to finding “perfect” cards.  I generally find something that is reasonably suitable, and I prefer humorous to serious.  If it gives the recipient a chuckle, I’m satisfied, but most of all, I don’t want to burden anyone with a card that will cast guilt if they don’t want to keep it.  See how complicated this disorder of mine is??

I’ve queried a few other people on this matter over the years, but still haven’t really found a permanent resolution. Yeah, I know…this is all pretty trivial in the scheme of things, but please, HELP ME?