Sakura season is here
on blossom, blind blooms and what it actually means to fulfil potential
In Japan, Sakura watch is near its peak. Blossoms appear first in Kyushu and continue through the country before their last hurrah in northernmost island of the archipelago, Hokkaido.The Japanese Meteorological Corporation releases a blossom forecast map as well as an incredibly detailed app, the Otenki Navigator which gives flowering and full bloom dates for no less than 1000 cherry blossom viewing sites.
Sakura holds a place of mystery, divination and wisdom and their fleeting beauty is the focus of Hanami, cherry blossom viewing parties that take place each spring.
Away from the blooms themselves this mystery is somewhat reinterpreted. Stores, restaurants and cafes are crammed with all things cherry blossom – Sakura tea, Special edition burgers complete with pink bun and even a Sakura inspired Miffy.
Originally used to divine the year’s harvest, Sakura came to embody wabi sabi philosophy and Shinto ideals of hope, renewal and impermanence.
Japan Travel - History of Cherry Blossom
There is a more serious side to this exuberant celebration. Blossom, and cherry blossom in particular is prized because of its fragility and transient nature. It serves as a stark reminder that life itself is vibrant, beautiful and fleeting.
By contrast, in western culture, blossom and blooming are code for becoming, for reaching that elusive thing – our potential. There is little attention given to the reality – that many blossoms last for a week or two – less if they encounter strong winds, storms or rain.
When people blossom, they become more attractive, successful, or confident, and when good feelings or relationships blossom, they develop and become stronger.
Cambridge Dictionary Definition of “Blossom”
How many times have you been told “you have so much potential”? It’s such a loaded compliment. So much potential for what? How do we unlock it? How do we reach it? How do we blossom? How do we bloom? Should any kind of petal formation occur, I’m fairly sure my grand old age means I’ll be placed in the “she might be a late bloomer” category, but what happens if I go beyond that category? Who knows?
Part of this week’s Notes from the Margin course was to craft a 14 line poem built around the first signs of spring. In all honesty the usual sense of hope and positivity that spring brings felt absent as I sat down to write. I’d been troubled by a minor PEM* crash, a little weighed by grief (Dad was a wonderful gardener and this time of year is bittersweet) and generally struggling to feel the way this prompt deserved.
Writing of any kind, and poetry in particular, is perfect in this scenario. It helps express the feelings I can't quite name.
In my gloom I focused on some determinedly unblossoming daffodils, wondered how they must feel to be robbed of their opportunity to shine, wondered what caused the lack of bloom. I fashioned a sad little sonnet, which whilst far from brilliant was an excellent way to understand and explore my thoughts and feelings about being a writer, a creator.
Real hope is found in the knowledge that daffodils don’t die once their bloom has been plucked. They absorb energy and nutrients from their leaves to ensure a they have the best possible chance to bloom next spring. This isn’t the prettiest phase of a daffodil’s life, and I’m fairly sure there aren’t any poems that go like this
I gaze upon that host of leaves,
crispy, yellowing, beige and green,
rejoice at long endured decay,
that frames the flowers, come what may.
written by me, with apologies to all good daffodil poems
This may not be it’s prettiest phase, but it’s arguably the most important. Without these nutrients, next year’s blooms will be sparse.
Our obsession with bloom and blossom, with the results of labour over labour itself, mean that this important stage can be cut short through the very best (but misguided) intentions.
What is the nature of the hope which, when it is present in work, makes it worth doing?
It is threefold, I think - hope of rest, hope of product, hope of pleasure in the work itself
Useful Work versus Useless Toil, Morris 1884
I’m lucky enough to live near Wightwick Manor, on the outskirts of Wolverhampton. Created by the Mander family, the house pays homage to the works thoughts and values held by William Morris and other key figures in the Pre-Raphealite brotherhood. Not only is Wightwick impossibly beautiful, it has an atmosphere so different to other great manor houses. There is a sense of value, of useful work, of respect and sheer love of craft. It’s something that is present in every part of the house and that fills my soul with hope each time I visit.
But a man at work, making something which he feels will exist because he is working at it and wills it, is exercising the energies of his mind and soul as well as of his body.
Useful Work versus Useless Toil, Morris 1884
This concept brings a new well of richness to the work each of us do. As a writer, each poem I begin, each rhyme scheme I battle, each comma I agonise over, is part of this “exercising of energies of mind and soul” and part of the pleasure and purpose of writing a poem, essay, short story or newsletter. If we allow ourselves to plunge into the possibilities of thought, to value those thoughts and explore them through art we embrace the essence of what makes us human. If we reduce our labour to the end result, we become mere products, another commodity in the machine that has already taken so much joy from our lives.
And this brings me to a conclusion; the key to understanding potential is to shift focus, to become less embroiled in the desire for that crowd pleasing bloom, less entranced by the idea of gathering attention and adulation for a fleeting moment.
Focus needs to be firmly placed on gathering nourishment, on weathering storms, on being sure of a sound root structure, rebuilding what may not be naturally present. Blossoming is merely a stage in the process of becoming, a transient moment of hope, to give courage and desire to continue in our work, whatever that may be.
Until next time
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“Useful Work versus Useless Toil.” William Morris - Useful Work versus Useless Toil. Accessed March 13, 2024. https://www.marxists.org/archive/morris/works/1884/useful.htm.
*PEM is an abbreviation of Post Exertional Malaise, the rather Victorian sounding term for being reduced to basic functions as a result of normal living. It's a consequence of M.E. which you can find out more about here.
"Focus needs to be firmly placed on gathering nourishment, on weathering storms, on being sure of a sound root structure, rebuilding what may not be naturally present. Blossoming is merely a stage in the process of becoming, a transient moment of hope, to give courage and desire to continue in our work, whatever that may be."
I so needed these words this morning. I love the blossoming and blooms that are just beginning in my part of the world, but you are so right about how fleeting that phase of being is.