Blogging Challenge #7:
From the good of the heart

Hooray, and holy smokes, this is the last post for the 7-Day Blogging Challenge! Much to my surprise, I actually really enjoyed it. In a way it is like journaling (which is something I have been doing ever since I was a little girl), which at its best can be incredibly therapeutic and meditative.

So, what do you say? Shall we get on with the last Blogging Challenge post?

We shall!

Something else that has carried with me from childhood is my absolute love and adoration for animals. They are creatures that most often far outweigh the human in more capacities than one. They have the ability to make you live in the moment and forget about all of your troubles, not to mention teach you how to love unconditionally. I mean seriously, have you ever had a furry friend hold a grudge? I sure haven’t. They have the amazing ability to forgive and forget, something we could all learn from!

Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.
-Anatole France

The sad part is that, as we have domesticated animals, they sometimes end up in the care of people who are entirely incapable of caring for themselves, not to mention other living beings. This is how animals end up abused, living on the streets and, in some worst case scenarios, dead.

We patronize the animals for their incompleteness, for their tragic fate of having taken form so far below ourselves. And therein we err, and greatly err. For the animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complete than ours, they are more finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings; they are other Nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth.
-Henry Beston

Luckily we have organizations that work to help these animals, care for them and provide them with a chance for a new life. One of those organizations is HESY, The Helsinki Society for Animal Protection. I have been lucky enough to have worked with them and help out in any way I can. They asked me to come in and photograph their vet at work for an article they were publishing in their magazine. These photographs are from that time.

Vet at HESY, Animal Rescue Center, by Studio Metsä PhotographyAt the vet's office at HESY, Helsinki, Finland by Studio Metsä PhotographyVet in action at HESY animal rescue center by Studio Metsä PhotographyVet in dramatic light by Studio Metsä PhotographyVet listening to cat's heart at HESY by Studio Metsä PhotographyVet grooming a cat at HESY by Studio Metsä PhotographyCat getting vaccinated at HESY by Studio Metsä Photography

HESY magazine article, photography by Studio Metsä

And here are a few of the inhabitants at HESY at the time:

Black and white cat, Armas, at HESY by Studio Metsä PhotographyCat lying in bed at HESY by Studio Metsä PhotographyBunny at HESY by Studio Metsä PhotographyBlack and white cat at HESY by Studio Metsä Photography

The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.
-Mahatma Gandhi

To give back and help these animals, please follow this link to donate to their important cause (the page is in English and all bank accounts are in the IBAN format so you can make a bank transfer from anywhere in the world).

I’m excitedly waiting to have a chance to work more with HESY and other organisations alike. If you have a desire to make the stories in your company or organisation visual, get in touch with me through info (at) studiometsa (dot) com – I can’t wait to hear from you!

And now, folks, this is it. I have completed my Blogging Challenge! Thanks to all of you for supporting me and commenting on my posts. It means the world to me! So even though the official challenge is over, I will still keep blogging since I am having so much fun! :)

Happy new week to all of you lovelies!

Until next time,
xoxo Erika

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