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It is the cherry blossom season again. It is a little earlier this year, and flowers are already in full bloom. Usually, they bloom around the 8th of April, when the new school year begins.
How come I have a specific date? Well, April 8th is Buddha’s birthday, and I once published a book on this day, and cherry blossoms were in full bloom then, too. Also, we have a school entrance ceremony around the 8th, it varies depending on the year, and the ceremony is often associated with cherry blossoms.
We had Hanami, a cherry blossom viewing picnic, on Wednesday.
I love this occasion a lot. It is another beautiful seasonal event we have in Japan. It is the beginning of spring, and it is the beginning of the fiscal year in Japan.
Hanami was the occasion of Yoshoku, celebrating the autumn harvest in advance, since cherry blossoms symbolized good yield.
However, more and more, I feel it is the perfect occasion for Ima Iwai, celebrating the present moment.
For the difference between Yoshoku and Ima Iwai, please read this post.
You can appreciate the beauty of cherry blossoms, you can celebrate the awakening of the natural kingdom with other plants blooming, such as dandelions, and you can feel happy about the warm weather. The winter is finally over, and you are ready to be outdoors more often and be active. It is also the beginning of gardening work. You start planting some vegetables.
Appreciating everything and being grateful for things happening in your life is a skill centenarians have. In a Japanese book called Hyakujusha No Kenko No Himitsu Ga Wakatta, Centenarians’ Secret to Health, the authors interviewed over 60 centenarians all over the world. When they ask them when they felt the happiest in their lifetime, many of them answered that it was now. When they asked the same questions to people in their 80s or 90s, they often said it was when they were younger. Once you reach the age of 100, you seem to have a different kind of mentality.
April is good timing to start something new. I know the fiscal year doesn’t begin in some of your countries, yet, you can make it a beginning since everything in the natural kingdom is waking up.
How about start learning the Ikigai Diet?