Have you ever been to Japan in early Spring? If so, you will have noticed that almost everything seems to come in all shades of pink. Springtime here equals the bloom of the Cherry Blossom – and the whole country goes a bit crazy. It seems that everybody gets addicted to this ‘pink-spirited-season’, also called Cherry blossom, Sakura or Hanami season!
Weeks prior newspapers and the national TV publish the expected blooming peak! Rain, colder or warmer weather can put it all off by a few days; throwing carefully made up plans for picnics, get-togethers and travels off schedule.
You see the pure joy on people’s faces once the trees are in full bloom. Giving the impression of being covered with large cotton balls.
People are delighted by those little, fragile, pink flowers, everywhere!
And areas under the trees are reserved by mats as from the early morning. People squeeze as tight as possible in picnic areas, getting cosy with the next-door-picnic-mat.
Drinks, snacks and food are available in various shades of pink. And whether you like it or not, you get sucked into all of it, there is no escape!
But it can be overwhelming, too!
Everywhere where you find a Sakura tree there are people.
At times I have to agree with my kids when they say this is just crazy. But as I ventured out this year for a walk amongst the Cherry Blossom trees, I took a different viewpoint.
After taking some mandatory pictures of the beautiful trees in full bloom, I shifted my focus to the people around me.
The Japanese do not just go out there to see a tree blooming, no they celebrate this whole happening. And it is simply delightful to see how they go along with it.
Pathways lined with vendors offer pink bubbly drinks with sakura blossom, pink sakura flavoured snacks, bottles with sakura flower prints.
Shops and delivery services offer special Sakura boxes, all ready-made and to-go for the picnic.
Pink clearly sells these weeks, whether in food or drinks!
What a simple thing – finding joy in Sakura watching, don’t you think so, too?
Once you let go and ignore the craziness around you, you just go with the flow. You wonder how this little fragile flower can bring so much joy to millions of people despite being surrounded by almost as many.
While observing the crowds I can see that they are simply in the moment – in the here and now. They know how to make the best out of something fragile, knowing it won’t last long.
The beauty passes quickly every year. And everybody around me simply enjoys while it lasts.
To beautiful moments in life, make the best out of them and don’t let them slip by!
AK