World Pulse Love Across Shores and Time Zones

Yesterday morning, I heard an unexpected knock on the door. When I opened it, a man asked if there is a Karen Axalan living here. I identified myself, then he handed me an envelope.

While receiving the package, my thoughts raised when and what did I order somewhere. To my delight, I saw the stamps from Canada, and yes, I finally knew this one came from a dear World Pulse sister, Adriana Greenblatt! ❤️     

Adriana has been making jewelries as a form of self-care. 

One day, she sent me a message,  “Hello dear Karen! I hope you are well! I wanted to share with you that in my training I have on resilience  in the workplace I thought of you as an example of resilience!”

What? Me? I asked her how and why. 

This was her reply, 

“Hello Karen, so much!   Having heard stories on World Pulse and feeling a real connection to you and this journey - with your son, your sharing your own mental health journey, and having the courage to share this stuff authentically and then...using it to support other women and still find gratitude and joy!  Those are just a few things that come to mind.   

Massive massive hugs to you dear!”

Oh, wow. My tears fell as I read her words because sometimes I feel my stories are not worthwhile or they are too trivial, but I write them anyway just to unburden myself. It feels great to receive words of encouragement, too. So when Adriana sent that message to me, I felt humbled that she honored my journey.

However, words were not enough for her. She informed me that she felt inspired to create a pair of earrings for me. 

Who am I to say no? I was so happy!

I secretly worried, though, that she will be spending an expensive shipping cost.

So on September 1, she messaged me that the earrings were on their way. The package traveled from Montreal, Canada to Cebu, Philippines for more than a month.

I told Adriana how my family and I considered to apply for immigration to Canada before, because my aunt who is already a citizen there has been inviting us to do so. The moment she learned that my son has special needs, she felt the Health Care in Canada can benefit him. I discovered that the process involved tons of requirements and qualifications, not to mention, thousands of dollars. 

So we cannot go to Canada, but Canada came to me through Adriana’s tangible token of love!

It has always been a joy to read her encouragements on my posts. She is so filled with positive energy. I enjoy reading her stories, too. We feel connected to each other. We’re both fans of Brene Brown, to name a few. That must be it: our love for vulnerability, authenticity, and empathy.

I am actually inspired by our sister Adriana, how she became a lawyer, how she established her consultancy and company, how she speaks three languages, how she customizes her trainings for her clients, how she establishes boundaries for self-care, how she encourages to LIVE LARGE, and so much more.

So I asked myself how can this great, awesome, wonderful woman allot her precious time to make earrings for me, spend a costly shipping fee, even risk all that trouble to send her lovely creation to me? How can she trust me that I gave her the right address? I really don’t know.

What I know is the moment I held the package in my hand, I felt valued and loved as a woman.

I opened the package carefully because I truly treasure everything including the envelope with her handwriting and the Canadian stamps on it. Inside, I saw this cute silver bag, and my heart just went, “Awwww.How thoughtful she is to put the earrings in a nice container.” I then saw the pair of earrings with yellow squares on top of the rings. 

I see this as beautiful symbol of Adriana and me. We are different in culture, in status, in shape, in size, in length of hair, in language, in personality, in season, in timezone, and more. But we are similar in many ways as well, and it’s our authenticity with each other that connects us together.

Dear Adriana, thank you so much for this wonderful gift. I still couldn’t fathom that this token of love traveled for more than a month from Canada to the Philippines!  It surely  faced different weather conditions along the way. Now, it’s safe with me. I know, too, that no matter what circumstances or storms we face in life, no matter how long it will take, we will both reach our destination, we can fulfill our dreams.

I’ll wear this on special events and  during my World Pulse-related activities so I can share that a dear World Pulse sister sent it to me.

How meaningful it is that this arrived on the International Day of The Girl. It truly made my day!

Thank you for the gift of sisterhood and friendship. I feel so honored and humbled that you sealed these with a tangible gesture of love!

Hugs! Hugs! Hugs!