Spring is a special time to visit Japan. The cherry blossoms are in full bloom. In my October column in the Sydney Observer Magazine (p.15) https://online.fliphtml5.com/wtpec/zyvo/#p=14, I write about the lessons that we can learn from these beautiful flowers.
It was early August in Sydney, not officially spring, and yet the trees are now wrapped with the delicate blooms. Cherry blossoms teach us important lessons about ADAPTABILITY, CHANGE and IMPERMANENCE. “Nature adapts and seasons follow their own rhythm, rather than a chronological clock. So when conditions are right, trees respond and flowers bloom.”
A week later, you will notice the blossoms starting to fall. Cherry blossoms flower for only a short time. They teach us to appreciate everything and everyone when they are with us, and to let go when they are no longer there.” Cherry blossoms are much celebrated in Japan for their beauty and for these meaningful lessons.
When you walk in the park, use your eyes to develop, not just sight, but insight - an awareness that change is natural and inevitable. Encourage your kids to learn to adapt and appreciate change as nature does - the transformation of a butterfly from a caterpillar and the buds on the bare branches.
Soon it will be summer and change will take place in nature again, as it does in all of us.
