April is the month of the tree blossoms. In Japan, it’s the month of the annual appearance of the Cherry Blossom. This is a such a celebration that photographs of cherry blossom make the front pages of the newspapers, and stories of people flocking to see, and photograph, the beautiful trees appear in prime time news programmes.
The reason for this is that this time of glorious blossom is brief, even though it comes around every year. The brevity reminds us of transience. This month is a month to celebrate that.
Why should you celebrate transience? Often we desperately try to hold onto what can’t be held onto. We strive to maintain the status quo, facing inevitable change the way King Canute faced the waves. To recognise the fundamental reality of transience can provide a healthy counter to that attitude.
However, more than that, we can begin to appreciate our life experiences even more profoundly in the full knowledge of their impermanence. This is a time to celebrate the beauty and uniqueness of transient blossoms, to be aware of the transience of everything in life, and not to fear that.
Instead it’s a time to celebrate and enjoy what we have for just a short time, intensifying our enjoyment of the present by accepting it as it is, fully, here and now.
Over the coming month we will be discuss transcience and its implications on a wide variety of issues ranging from nature, science, health, society, culture and art. This month’s film club is already up and running as is our April photo project. Please do join in, share your thoughts, your images, your words.
Let the conversation begin!
