“Sakura” – Cherry Blossom. One fine flower represents Japanese beauty. It is my

“Sakura” – Cherry Blossom. One fine flower represents Japanese beauty. It is my favorite – as I have a Sakura Tree in front of our house. One fact that not many people know is that some Japanese associate “death” to Sakura. As I shared previously, Japanese tend to feel death close – right next to them. It isn’t like they wish for death. It is more like the acceptance of death, and death as the “end/beginning” of one cycle. Sakura has a very short blooming period. Since they accepted death, they wanted to bloom stronger – in today’s language, it is “live in the moment” – or be mindful in what we do.
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I inherited this view of life & death very strongly from family, artisans, and books. I think I am not afraid of death much (although I am extremely afraid of dying for no reason). It is a very sensitive (& risky) theme to discuss on SNS, but I just wanted to share the image we carry(ed) in Sakura – and my philosophy follows this Sakura very much.
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I get nervous before the workshop. I cannot eat anything during teaching. Many nice people encourage me by saying “Oh, don’t be nervous. You will be fine”. However, after a number of workshops, I still get nervous as if it is my last chance. Yes, I have done a number of classes successfully. In this continuous teaching, yes, I am teaching one of many workshops I share. However, for the participants there, it is the only workshop they take. My “one of many” is their “only one”. I take my teaching very seriously, and therefore my “Sashiko Class” is very different – there are always stories behind what I teach. Sakura is there, too.
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Here, too. I am sharing Stories preparing for tomorrow that I may not be here. I put all of my life into this – therefore, it is painful when some take Sashiko so lightly in “teaching” (Please enjoy Sashiko lightly – no need to be serious in just practicing). I hope I am leaving something profound behind.
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生まれ育った家の前には宮川があり、桜並木がありました。米国で住居を探す際も「桜の木があるから」という理由で家を決めました（頭の良い選択肢ではないけれど、論理よりも感情）。私にとって桜はそれほどに存在が大きいものです。「滅びの美」はうまく言葉で説明はできませんが、これがなんとなくでもわからないと、刺し子や襤褸の本質には辿り着けないと思っています。幼少期悩みに悩んだ結果辿り着いた「（昔の）日本人とは」という答えの一つが桜と死生観の関係性だったりします。
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2022-08-03 21:56:12

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