An invitation can feel generous to the sender and demanding to the receiver.

An offer arrives carrying costs the sender never had to count. Travel, money, a day off, clothes, the energy for a room full of people: none of it appears on the card, and all of it lands on whoever opens it. The generosity is real and so is the burden, which is why a refusal is usually not a rejection. What is given and what is asked can be the same gesture.

When you invite someone, make the smaller version genuinely acceptable and say so plainly. When you receive an invitation, answer honestly rather than accepting and dreading it for a month.