Giving and Receiving

I started writing this blog post several months ago and became very discouraged when I knew my parents in China couldn't access blogspot. Well, everything has two sides -- maybe I feel more free to write down something I keep from family. Here I present my first post in 2011 and the new year resolution.

This is an advertisement card I got from S., who also sent me the Amsterdam Central Station card. The photo was part of the fashion campaign of a German department store, Peek & Cloppenburg. Besides the beauty of Amsterdam, a city on water, shown on the card, my attention was draw by the pretty and elegant Chinese model, Bonnie Chen.

Bonnie, or 陈碧舸, is one of the celebrities, I bother following her blog. She is better know for her brains than her beauty. The college degree from the University of Pennsylvania is quite self-explanatory, especially when you know she had been a full-time rhythmic gymnast until high school, who was so talented and hardworking that she earned several Chinese national champions. But what she really touches me is her heart of giving. She goes to charity events not for the sake of publicizing as some celebrities did when they came late for the events on purpose only to draw more attention. Instead, Bonnie set a goal of improving herself from a "model" to a "role model" -- who is socially responsible and giving thanks back to people.

I never think I may be a role model, but I can't agree more on a heart of giving because I am so grateful for "being on the receiving end of  a lot of love" in the past year of 2010. The quote was from Anne Hathaway, one of my favorite actresses, who had a personal crisis in 2008 but came back to the silver screen only stronger. She also said, " being vulnerable is not being weak" and "loving is not just about giving, it's about receiving as well." I've been benefiting from this receiving end, even from fellow postcard lovers who worried about me at some point; I am thinking of standing on both ends of love and care in the year of 2011 -- at least I can help someone find the postcards they like.