Postcards for the weekend 23: Happiness

For more than 20 weeks, we have seen creative twists with the theme interpretations. I would love to mention each and every notable ones I've seen. I'm afraid this post won't fit on this page at all though if I do so! In line with that observation, I decided to be more inclusive for the themes this month of February. I realized it might be quite challenging, but let's see what are the postcards the four chosen emotions will bring us. To start with -- HAPPINESS.

The Red Clover Fairy, Private Swap
Sent from Russia, Traveled for 20 days

Aside from being in the company of love ones and friends, I noticed that I'm very happy whenever I'm surrounded by nature. My job needs me to talk and listen with many different people most of the time. Nature does not ask that of me; listening to its sounds is voluntarily ... for the talking part, I guess I kind of do self-talk whenever I see something queer or fascinating. Overall, it's a rush of happiness whenever I see colorful birds, butterflies, dragonflies, beautiful blooms, huge and ancient trees whenever I go for nature walks. At some places, the foliage is the same as my last visit. Regardless, the great experience remains the same!

NL-1307269, Sent from The Netherlands
Traveled 10,333 in 60 days

For this theme of happiness, I'm sharing these three reproductions of Mary Cicely Barker postcards. It's impressive how happiness is reflected on the faces of each fairy on the postcards. And oh, that youthfulness! My partner told me that he often notices that I'm the happiest whenever we do something outdoors in nature. Well, it always give me the sense of adventure and freedom -- best cure for anxiety!

The Black Bryony Fairy, NL-2110239
Sent from The Netherlands, Traveled 10,348 km in 10 days

I hope these postcards are able to make you happy, too!

Cheers,

~maria

A Red Rose

AU-317018, Sender: Tristia
Sent: 27 Oct 2013 from Wollongong, Australia
Received: 7 Nov 2013, Traveled 6,285 km in 11 days

I feel special receiving this maxicard today. Tristia, the sender, wrote: I have been keeping it for someone who collects flower postcards. I'm lucky she didn't send it before to someone else! This is my second maxicard flower postcard. And two beautiful coincidences:

1)  The first maxicard flower postcard I have is also from Australia. I posted that one in this entry, Thou has brought me many flowers. Third postcard in that row of five.

2) The petals of the red rose is charmingly forming one heart inside the other. Perfect for Guest Heart Thursday! How lovely!

For more hearts, hop on to Clytie's Random Hearts page, just a click of your mouse on here.

~maria

The Strawberry Fairy

FB Postcard Swap, Sender: Terry
Sent: 13 August 2012 from Sherwood, AR
Received: 31 August 2012, Traveled 13,552 km in 19 days

The bunch of 22 postcards I received on 18 October included two Cicely Mary Barker postcards. While filing them, I noticed that the Strawberry Fairy card has random strawberry hearts scattered on the page. Awesome for Clytie's Guest Heart Thursday! 

Here's a part of the Strawberry Fairy's Song:

Strawberries small,

And wild and sweet,

For the Queen and all

of her court to eat!

How many small, wild, and sweet strawberries can you see on the card? ;-)

~maria

Locked in love!

I am really fatigued today but I don't want to miss joining Guest Heart Thursday

twice in a row... My contribution for this week:

It came with a heart postcard, which can be found here. And I just realized,

how appropriate, I entitled that previous post, "Loving through death" and this one

 is "Locked in love!" -- this lovely coincidence warms up my heart 

and really justifies my staying up longer tonight for a GHT entry.

--------------------------------------------------

It's a greeting stamp - pendant issued by Pošta Slovenije on 25 January 2013. 

The description for the stamp at the www.posta.si website reads:

"The latest greetings stamp bears the motif of one of the padlocks whose number 

is effectively growing from day  to day at the new Mesarski Most bridge in Ljubljana. 

By hanging up a locked padlock,  couples make a symbolic manifestation 

of their commitment to eternal love..."

------------------------------------------

I'm keeping this short and closing my eyes as soon as I post this...

I still have to wake up at 5:30 AM tomorrow, wish me sweet dreams, please. Thanks!

~maria

...et l'amour

Private Swap, Sender: David Russell
Sent: 27 May 2013, Sent from Lyon, France
Received: 4 June 2013, Traveled 10,765.82 km in 8 days

I am truly grateful that postcard swap friends give it an effort to fulfill postcard preference requests. At the back of this card, David wrote: 

I looked around and finally found a postcard with hearts. It wasn't easy to pick just the right card. I hope you will enjoy it. :) 

-- and of course, I enjoy this card a lot! My favorite heart from this set is the one on the top row, to the right of the letter 'O'. 

There's a phrase in French at the bottom of the card. I asked Mr. Google to translate it for me, and he said it means, "...and love goes around your hearts." I wanted a more comprehensible translation, and from the beau, I got: "...and love is filling up your hearts". It's really complicated for me learning the French language but I hope I can at least comprehend the basics by trying to understand words and phrases.

I would also like to share, that this postcard is double heart-y treat for me. David sent it with a heart-shaped stamp. This is Hermès contribution to the annual 'Heart' collection of the French Postal Service (La Poste). The design is from the brand's iconic scarves, illustrated by Zoé Pauwels. The stamp was released 28 January 2013. I cropped the stamp to show the overlapping postmarks from the Lyon and Manila postal offices. I think they look nice.

For more Francophile posts, Paulita is running 'Dreaming of France' at her page, An Accidental Blog, click the icon below to proceed to her blog.

~maria

By any other name, would still be as sweet.

 BY-866360, Sender: Anya
Sent: 24 April 2013, Sent from Mogilev, Belarus
Received: 23 May 2013, Traveled 8,747 km in 29 days

What's in a name? That which we call a rose?

By any other name would still smell as sweet.

Romeo & Juliet (2.2.45-47)

In these lines from Romeo and Juliet, Juliet argues that the name of things do not matter, only what things "are".* 

I am on a crossroads. Or perhaps, it's better to characterize these confused feelings and mixed emotions that I'm having lately as symptoms of the ever-famous phenomenon, that so called quarter-life crisis. I find myself staring blankly in space. At the same time, there are so many things running in my head. I cannot focus and I'm having difficulty in making decisions.

I am not happy with my profession, yet I'm still excited by it. Maybe it's unhappiness with my job, and not really the profession? Maybe a new work place will renew my enthusiasm? Perhaps I'm not really born to be a medical physicist? But I refuse to accept the idea of 'nature', I lean more into 'nurture' -- that you can be what you work your damn best to be. Still, I question myself whether I have the real talent for the profession. Then, what talents do I really have? A friend told me I am a 'people person'. Yet here I am, trying to fit in a profession that requires a bigger percentage for talent in the technical department.

Should I try to find my happiness in a different career? But isn't it a bit too late now? Is this unhappiness a transient thing? Perhaps I'm just lacking motivation right now? Perhaps it's just all in my head. Perhaps I'm just allowing myself to dwell on negativity? I actually find it humiliating and ironic, that many friends and acquaintances have come to me for advice; many considered me successful in this profession. Their compliments often surprise me as I think of the internal and external struggles. Some say I am very hard with myself. Perhaps I am...

Or, perhaps the profession doesn't really matter. That it is what lies in your core as a person which counts the most. That wherever you find yourself in, whatever profession you take, whichever road you thread, it is your motivation and determination to be happy and find real success whatever the circumstances are which counts the most. Like what Juliet said, "What's in a name? That which we call a rose / By any other name would still smell as sweet."

I haven't found the final resolution for my thoughts on this matter. But I know I should get some sleep now. Tomorrow is another day, and I pray that it is a better day.

~maria

p.s. Pardon this melancholic post. I really need an outlet for the random thoughts in my head. My thoughts are really crazy right now. I don't know which way to go. Your comments are very welcome. If you disagree with what I've written, I'd greatly appreciate if you tell me why.

*Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_rose_by_any_other_name_would_smell_as_sweet

Handle with care.

US-2029966, Sender: Calluna
Sent: 6 Jan 2013, Sent from Brooklyn, NY
Received: 24 Jan 2013, Traveled 13,693 km in  18 days

Reminds me of the lyrics of a song: If you love me, like you tell me / Please be careful with my heart / You can take it, just don't break it / Or my world will fall apart...

I'm happy that this heart arrived unbroken. Thanks to the bubble wrap and the sign: Handle with care. I requested for heart postcards for my birthday back in February and this was one of the few early cards I received.

Sharing this postcard for Guest Heart Thursday. Sorry for the tardiness, Clytie!

~maria 

Santa-believer Me!

DE-1784034, Sender: Antje
Sent from Wuppertal, Germany, Sent on 04 Dec 2012
Received on 20 Dec 2012, Traveled 10,319 km in 16 days

I rarely share long status messages in Facebook. (And in fact I haven't really shared one before!) But I was exceptionally inspired than usual last night and posted:

I thought Santa forgot about me...but yes, 20+ girls still get their Christmas wishes coming true! Got mine 50 mins before the 25th is officially over... 

Sobrang salamat po (thank you so much) Big Dad for sending Santa my way even I'm a big girl now! I'll do my best to be even nicer this 2013...so perhaps my gift can come a little earlier next Christmas? Kidding...early or late, just please don't ever erase me on your list even though I'm already a toothless and demented old woman...

I hope everyone's wishes for Christmas came true! If not, I'm sure it's just a little late (like mine almost was). So let's just keep the faith that Santa will drop the gift any time soon. After all, Christmas doesn't really have to be just on the 25th right? ;-)

May we keep the spirit of Christmas: happiness, forgiveness, faith, hope, and love alive all year through! Merry 'all year long' Christmas everyone!

I wish the same for my co-bloggers, readers, and friends in the postcards blog sharing community! ;-)

~maria

Seasonal Greetings!

Friendship Gift Postcard, Sender: Valeria Novik
Sent from Minsk, Belarus, Sent on 04 December 2012
Received on 20 December 2012, Traveled 8,968 km in 16 days

Here's a surprise card I got yesterday. :D

Valeria wrote at the back of the card:

Thank you for our swap this year. I would love to wish many exciting cards and letters, love, harmony, joy, and happiness. How have you been? How do you plan to spend your holidays? Best regards, Valeria.

Thank you so much Valeria for this beautiful red seasons greeting cards. Thank you also for the well wishes. I also wish the same for you and your family!

Let's hop into Beth's Postcard Friendship Friday page to check out more Christmas postcards ;-) 

Smiles from Myanmar

Friendship Gift Postcard, Sender: My twin, Wan

Sent from Nyaung Shwe, Myanmar, Sent on 01 August 2012

Received on 30 August 2012, Traveled 1,657 miles in 30 days

Yesterday, I came home with a really annoying headache from a long and bad day. But what a surprise! My mood was really turned 180 degrees when I saw this postcard on top of my study table. ;-) I fancy postcards with smiling faces. The sender didn't know that cause he's not from the official postcrossing website nor he has been a swap partner from any of the Facebook postcards exchange groups.

Later in the evening when I had the chance to tell him that his surprise card arrived, he told me that when he saw the card in a postcards stand, he instantly knew that it's the perfect card for me. Oh well...he's someone who never fails to make me smile -- so I believe, it's the perfect card to get from him, too!

Myanmar has the old name, Burma -- which is the home of two early civilizations in Southeast Asia, Pyu and Mon. Its official name is The Republic of the Union of Myanmar, which can be seen on the stamp which came with the card.

The dominant religion in Myanmar is Theravada Buddhism. Boys in Myanmar are highly encouraged to study early Buddhism as a novice before they turn 20, and to be a monk after that. The back of this card of novice Buddhist monks says, SMILE. And indeed, their smiles are contagious! 

Happy Postcard Friendship everyone and have a happy weekend! Smile. :)

~ maria

Russian woman in costume

Pardon me, folks! I'm a day late in greeting every female, HAPPY International Women's Day! I was swamped at work yesterday and I had a problem with my bank account (but happy that it was sorted out -- thanks to the bank's assistant manager, another female!).

In honor of the women's day, I am sharing a Russian countrywoman in her ornate costume postcard for Beth's Postcard Friendship Friday. The postcard came from Russia, many thanks to Uliana of Novosibirsk. 

The woman is wearing a peasant dress, sarafan with the traditional Russian blouse. This clothing style is no longer commonly worn, except for the sarafan, that is now used as a summer dress. The entire ensemble however can still be seen during folk music and dance performances or as souvenirs. I wish I can step into one and try wearing it myself! :D

Happy Postcard Friendship Friday, dear readers and blog hoppers!

~ maria