PFF: Warm thoughts from Finland

Friendship Gift Postcard, Sender: Tuija
Sent 7 June 2017 from Kuopio, Finland, Traveled 9,171 km

"Sometimes it is good to catch one's breath and spend the day enjoying oneself; leaving everyday worries behind, take it easy, and be happy about good things in life."

This evening I'm writing a letter to Tuija, my penpal and close friend of many years.

Happy Postcard Friendship Friday, everyone! 

Thanks Beth for continuously hosting.

~maria

PFF: Hurray for Beth!

SG-221621, Outgoing to China
Sent 22 Aug 2016, Traveled 4,556 km in 24 days

Beth, the host of Postcard Friendship Friday has been in my thoughts. As some of you may know, she underwent surgery. I wrote to her last week and I'm happy that she's feeling better and a lot more mobile. Sending warm & cheerful thoughts your way Beth! I hope you will be back into good health again real soon.

The Best Hearts Are Crunchy, Beth's page is one of my favorites -- lots of beautiful vintage cards there. Most of these cards I can only admire online and never will be in my collection. Thanks Beth for sharing joy with your collection through your blog.

Loving is sharing joy

Outgoing: SG-221625 to United Kingdom

I have recently decided for a "soft return" into two of my [quite] long abandoned hobbies: postcard swapping & blogging. Postcards have always brought me joy. Writing and sharing these postcards with other postcards enthusiasts, had brought me even more joy. I was inactive at the postcrossing.com website but still swapping with friends I've met from the site, friends from blogging, and sending postcards to myself. My flatmate labeled me "crazy" because of that last one. Perhaps I am! Life has been passing by so quickly and I wanted tangible souvenirs of my days spent jumping from one city/county to another.

I haven't been doing heavy back-to-back traveling for the past 3 months though. I miss the excitement and anticipation of receiving mail. One's love for postcards can never be enough. So here I am, back to "active" status in swapping postcards. In addition to that, I'm also not just going to be back to blogging but will be hosting a weekend postcards linky party. Cross fingers, my subscription to linky tools will be validated soon so I can start the linky party next weekend. Watch out for more details ;-)

For now, please enjoy the postcards for Friday at my friend, Beth's page. 

Happy weekend,
~maria

R is for Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Facebook Swap, Sender: Nathan
Sent: 31 Aug 2012 from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Received: 2 Oct 2012, Traveled 18,274 km in 32 days

Facebook Swap, Sender: Nathan
Sent: 31 Aug 2012 from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Received: 2 Oct 2012, Traveled 18,274 km in 32 days

The long weekend to cap the  Holy Week was over. As promised, I limited my use of electronic gadgets; I did my best to spend a quiet time with myself. I fathomed the decisions I made, the life I live at the moment, the struggles for progress, the tendency to give up on hope, the grueling wait for results.

A new week arrives. To my dismay, life still looks bleak. The horizon did not change much as I hope it would. I reckon, geographically wise, I am where I incessantly prayed for. Yet, as cliche as it is, let me put myself in a position right now where I am "too near yet incredibly far" from where my heart longs to be. Perhaps I am where I want to be, not where I need to be.

As my lonely and weary soul seeks for guidance, I stumble again on this quote:

God did not promise days without pain, laughter without sorrow, or sun without the rain, but He did promise strength for the day, comfort for the tears, and light for the way. If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it.

I find solace that my postcards for today is most fitting. Here are two views of the Christ the Redeemer Statue in Rio de Janeiro. Seen on these postcards are the Carioca landscapes between the mountain and the sea. It was inscribed in the UNESCO WHS in 2012.

~maria

A Surprise Card!

Surprise Postcard, Sender: Terry Lovell
Sent: 13 Aug 2012 from Sherwood, AR
Received: 31 Aug 2012, Traveled 13,552 km in 19 days

In moments of doubt, I turn into kind words. One example is the message at the back of this surprise card from Terry:

You are a special person -- I know that to be true about you!

Thank you very much Terry! You make me smile every time with the postcards you send me and the lovely messages. Reading kind words from friendships I've made with people I haven't even met yet is very refreshing. For me, it reflects purity of human spirit. Despite what we see and what we believe to be an enormous damage in the human morale fiber, there is still the great potential for genuine kindness and good will even among strangers.

Reading Terry's message and looking at this card once again has cheered me up!

I'm off to bed tonight with a smile, renewed spirit, and excitement for the weekend!

But before that, I'm heading over at Beth's Postcard Friendship Friday to check for more nice postcards that will surely make me smile even more.

Sleep well everyone and have a great weekend ahead!

~maria

Nourish The Heart

RU-2207232, Sender: Marya11
Sent: 24 Nov 2013 from St. Petersburg, Russia
Received: 2 Jan 2014, Traveled 8,648 km in 39 days

At first glance, this postcard very well reminds me of a Chinese proverb:

Keep a green tree in your heart and perhaps a singing bird will come.

A tree is nourished by minerals from the soil and vitamins from the sun, and refreshed by water and air. Such is the same for the human heart, nourished by past experiences and refreshed by new ones. As I bid goodbye to 2013 and welcome the new year, 2014 - I admit I didn't write down (yet) specific "new year resolutions". But I renewed my yearly promise that I will keep an open and cheerful heart, keen on taking in new rewarding experiences, relearning from wise and trusted people and friends, and learning from new acquaintances and even strangers.

Happy new year everyone! Wishing all of us a prosperous 2014!

~maria

Inspiring Peace

Facebook Swap, Sender: Abran
Sent: 15 Oct 2013 from Los Angeles, CA
Received 22 Oct 2013, Traveled 11,734.53 km in 7 days

Today, I woke up to the sad news that one of the brightest beacons of peace ever-lived on Earth, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela had departed. It's half an hour past 1 PM in my side of the world and I've been tuned in to 94.7 Highveld Radio for live stream of Mandela tributes. It's truly amazing what his spirit has achieved and the inspiration he's given us all. In one way or the other, the peace he worked so hard to achieve for his people and his country is very much a part of the worldwide peace each of us enjoy in our daily lives.

Madiba, may you now eternally be with the One who never fails to grant us peace. You will always be a source of inspiration in my life!

Sharing this card with Beth for Postcard Friendship Friday.

~maria

Outpouring love and compassion

DE-2151770, Sender: Uwe
Sent: 5 May 2013 from Speyer, Germany
Received: 23 May 2013, Traveled 10,337 km in 18 days

I am a bit lost as to where to start for this post... I've been extremely busy since last weekend. I'm not feeling well. Last night that the gravity of the tragedy brought by Typhoon Haiyan is sinking in hard to me... Some noticed I'm zoning out the past few days; I'm frustrated I can't really do much more to help because of professional responsibilities.

The good part is that the outpouring love and compassion from many parts of the world is overwhelming, too. I consider myself lucky that I'm able to witness in grand scale, such admirable characters of the human spirit. In my personal experience, I'm grateful for all those friends I've made through blogging and postcard swapping who expressed their warm thoughts and concern over what happened. It's also a beautiful surprise that some random postcrossers sent messages to check if I'm 'ok'. 

Except for the physical and emotional toll of the events lately, I'm 'ok' here in Manila. My family in the province were affected. The damage on our part is insignificant though, compared to the damages in provinces of Samar, Leyte, and Palawan. Chills run down my spine every time I hear news of the situation there. Yet again, I get re-assurance that things will get better because the whole world is helping.

On a different note, for those who are constant readers of my blog: I'm happy to share that by Saturday morning last weekend, the typhoon was past Manila. We're able to push through with the second part of our celebration of the International Day of Medical Physics. The sky was still gloomy but I was impressed with the number of attendees. The discussions were very informative. All in all, it was worth the effort on our side, the organizers!

On Sunday, I was finally able to take the board certification exam for my sub-specialty. I'm really anxious for the result now. From Monday to yesterday, the Philippines hosted the consultancy/ assessment meeting on the implementation of the clinical residency training programs of the International Atomic Energy Agency. It was such an honor to brush elbows with some of the best individuals in my field coming from different organizations.

I got several unattended tasks because of these recent activities so I gotta run for now. I'm sharing this for blog hops of sisters Clytie and Beth -- thank you so much to both of you for keeping me in your thoughts and prayers, and asking about my situation after the typhoon. My sincere apologies if I made both of you worried due to my lack of posts.

Happy (belated) Guest Heart Thursday and Postcard Friendship Friday! Wishing all of you a nice and quiet weekend!

~maria

Inspiration from bluebells

FI-1858485, Sender: Paula
Sent: 10 Sep 2013 from Vaasa, Finland
Received: 20 Sep 2013, Traveled 9,032 km in 10 days

Life again is moving in a quicker pace than usual. In a more precise way of saying it -- I returned from an out-of-town work late in the evening of Saturday and in a few hours I'll be in the airport again for another assignment. Time check, 01:05 AM on a Monday. So far, I'm happy to have slept 5 hours since I was back. As to why I wasn't able to get more rest than I wish I could, well... there's tidying up of my stuff, laundry, and urgent documents for my clinical residency that needed much of my remaining energy and attention (not to mention the noisy neighbor).

I can really feel my body leaning down at its own already, like those bluebells on the postcard. I picked this card to gain inspiration. I really hope, like those bluebells hanging on their stems, I can still manage to be strong/not to fall down, to be able to do everything that has to be done, despite fatigue and this persistent flu. Yes I'm extremely tired (and sick) right now, in much need of more sleep and rest but I want to post this entry first for Blue Monday, with the thought that no matter how pressing the situation is, there's always a brighter way of looking at things and from there, positive energy pours in and you're able to carry on. Happy Blue Monday everyone!

~maria

A burden well borne

Facebook Postcard Swap, Sender: Bochenek PL
Sent: 26 July 2012 from Pawlowice, Poland
Received: 4 Sep 2013, Traveled 9,738 km in 38 days

The burden that is well borne becomes light. - Ovid

Life has been a bit faster again than normal; it feels like there's so much to do but there's so little time... I pray I can continue to carry on with my tasks with a light heart.

It's not exactly happy today 'cause Monday had been a demanding day for me but still... I'm happy that at the end of the day I can take a bit of time to work on my hobby. Looking at this postcard of cheerful boy diligently pushing a cart of teddy bears against a blue sky background makes me less fatigued. Plus blue is calming to stare at so it's a helpful color to make me relax.

Sharing with Sally for Blue Monday. Good luck for all of us for the coming new month of October! 

~maria

Mothers are angels.

RU-1235850, Sender: dinches
Sent: 24 Sep 2012, Sent from Ufa, Russia
Received: 16 Oct 2012, Traveled 7,089 20 in 22 days

I believe we shouldn't wonder if guardian angels are real or not. Mothers are the living proof that   guardian angels do exist. HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all mothers and to all moms-to-be!

Happy Friday everyone! Enjoy the weekend!

~maria

Hope

Facebook Postcard Swap, Sender: Skopry
Sent: 21 November 2012, Sent from Geisengen, Germany
Received: 20 December 2012, Traveled 10,386 km in 29 days 

Hope --

It is not easy to see the beautiful things of life in the time of sorrow,

but you should never ever stop to believe in the good.

Happy weekend,

~maria

Alpha and Omega

The beginning of year 2013 was a big test of faith. Never did I got so scared in my whole entire professional life! For the very first time, I attended a mass at the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene. It is a church widely famous for miracles to the devotees. I had been avoiding it since I've moved here to Manila in 2003 cause it's always very crowded. But last weekend, I found myself among the so many people hearing mass inside the crowded church.

I tried finding a more appropriate 'alpha and omega' stamp in my collection but this is the best one I have which shows Christ carrying a cross. Alpha and Omega. The Beginning and The End. For me, 2013 is the beginning of a stronger faith and the end of being doubtful. For the very first time I'm not thinking about back up plans and I am completely surrendering my life to Him.

I hope this one would count as a valid submission for the theme, 'beginnnigs' @ Viridian's for today.

A great week ahead for everyone!

~maria

Resilient Heart

Samsung Touchnote Postcard, Sender: Ines Rudloff
Sent from Hanover, Germany, Sent date not stamped on card
Received on 12 Sep 2012, Traveled ~ 10,277 km

I still believe in the resilience of the human heart and the essential validity of love;

I  still believe that connections between people can be made 

and that the spirits which inhabits us sometimes touch.

- introductory notes for Four Past Midnight

Stephen King

Touchnote ran a send free postcards promotion concurrent with the Summer Olympics and the Paralympics. This is one of the cards I got yesterday, along with 8 more Touchnote cards and two regular postcards. No cards received today...One more day before the weekend, crossing my fingers for more cards to arrive tomorrow! :D Follow me to Clytie's Random Hearts page for more hearty posts!

~ maria

First Official Card fr Indonesia

The sender, Maya said that the quotation on the card is her favorite. 

May the cuteness and the message on this card set the mood for your entire week, folks! 

Now, hop onto Willa's page by clicking the meme below for another beautiful postcard to start the week! :)

~maria

Postcard ID: ID-22810

Traveled 2,781 km in 12 days

A light for you.

None of us is stranger to moments of low self-esteem and feeling disheartened. During these times, to whom do you run to? What helps you pick up your spirit and see the other side of life?

Together with prayers, here are 'foods for thought' that motivate me when I'm down:

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life.

Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living the results 

of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's

opinion drown out your own inner voice. And most important,

have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.

They somehow already know what you truly want to become.

Everything else is secondary.

-Steve Jobs

Be who you are and say and say what you feel

because those who mind, won't matter 

and those who matter don't mind.

-Dr. Seuss

Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see

the whole staircase, just take the first step.

-Martin Luther King

It is not the magnitude of our actions but the amount of love

that is put into them that matters.

-Mother Teresa

We've all heard that we have to learn from our mistakes,

but I think it's more important to learn from our successes.

If you learn only from your mistakes, you are inclined to learn only errors.

-Norman Vincent Peale

When the going gets tough, I guess it's not being weak if you seek the wisdom of others (aside from keeping your faith intact) to boost your spirit!

I'm sharing this post with Michelle for her Thought Provoking Thursday theme. It was awesome to read what other thought provoking posts other bloggers have written up. Check out Michelle's page by clicking the red chair below. :)

ps. The text on the postcard above says, 'A light for you.' -- written in German, and was the inspiration for this post. I received it in August 2011 from postcrossing.com

~ maria

Postcard ID: DE-991029

Traveled 10,326 km in 14 days

Wisdom in stamp

I am taking another trip around the world. If it's via postcards on Fridays/Saturdays, on Sundays, it will be via stamps. This trip is sponsored by Viridian's Postcard Blog and today we start off in the North American and Mesoamerican continent.


I guess there's no better place to start this trip but from where my yesterday's post for Round d' World Weekends was stationed. Yes, New York, it is! *wink*

From Niagara Falls we move to the Rockefeller Center in the city proper of New York City, NY. Here's a stamp showing a sculpture at the entrance of the GE Building that houses the well known NBC studios. The relief on the stamp is called 'Wisdom'. It was completed in 1931-1933. The inscription reads:

"Wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times." 
Isaiah 33:6

And here's another picture of 'Wisdom' showing more of the building where it is located:

Image Credit: cerdsp at Flickr.com

Wow! I could have never known these things if not for this stamp. Thanks Viridian for this weekly Sunday project!

Remembering 9-11 with the American people today. Have a meaningful Sunday everyone!