Cherry Blossoms
- isabossav
- Jul 24, 2021
- 3 min read
Last April, I was able to do something I had long wanted to: see the cherry blossoms in full bloom in Washington, DC.
Every year, at the beginning of the spring, the thousands of cherry blossom trees in the Washington, DC area enter full bloom and their beautiful pink and white flowers appear in all their glory. The effect is breathtaking but it's one of those things you have to see instead of just reading about it so I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.
The first year I found out about the cherry blossoms, I was so mesmerized by the images of these beautiful trees surrounding the Potomac that I traveled to DC just to see them. I headed straight to Tidal Basin (according to my Google search, one of the best places to view the trees) but, to my surprise, there wasn't a single cherry blossom in sight. Had Google been wrong? Had I misread my destination's name or mistyped it on Google maps? Had I, being "typical me", just gotten lost and ended up in the wrong location? Unfortunately, I was in the right place but at the wrong time. It turns out the bloom had ended, the flowers had already fallen down, and I had missed it all by just a few days.
Beyond the spectacular beauty of the cherry blossoms, there's much history and symbolism behind them, and I, being "typical me" again, spent some time learning more about them.
Sakura
Cherry Blossoms (sakura in Japanese) are originally from Japan. In fact, the ones in Washington were a gift from Japan to the US in 1912 to celebrate the growing friendship between the two countries. But this was actually the second present. The first one, in 1910, consisted of 2,000 cherry blossoms that had to be destroyed because they were found to be infested with pests and disease. Then, two years later, the Japanese sent their second gift: 3,020 trees, many of which were planted in Washington, DC around Tidal Basin and the East Potomac Park. The DC cherry blossoms have now become a popular tourist attraction and there's an entire festival (the National Cherry Blossom Festival) with music, food, floats, marching bands and even a parade revolving around their bloom.
Hanami
In Japan, the cherry blossoms are immensely popular and are considered the national flower. Their Japanese name, sakura, is derived from saku, which means to bloom or to smile or laugh. There's also the custom of hanami or flower viewing, which commonly refers only to cherry blossom viewing. In modern-day Japan, hanami traditionally consists of having an outdoor gathering, picnic or party under the cherry blossoms. Apparently, some picnic places are so popular, they are fought after and you have to get there before 8 am to get a spot.
Mono No Aware
The cherry blossoms are strongly associated by the Japanese with the concept of mono no aware, which literally translates to the pathos of things, but evokes so much more that it is considered to be untranslatable. Mono no aware refers to the realization of the ephemeral nature of things, the awareness of impermanence and a sadness or wistfulness about this reality of life. Some translate it as "the ahhh-ness of things" or "the bittersweet poignancy of things".
"It is the awareness that everything in existence is temporary. The fleetingness of youth, the fading of romance, the changing of seasons". The Culture Trip
The cherry blossoms are celebrated for their beauty but their full bloom lasts only two weeks. For the Japanese, this epitomizes the intensity, fragility and transience of life. It's beautiful and poignant at the same time: the fact that the cherry blossoms bloom (and every one of our experiences) is so brief makes us appreciate it even more but it also makes us yearn for more, yet there's nothing we can do because everything in life is inherently impermanent.
Discovering mono no aware was meaningful for me for an additional reason: I will be leaving New York in a few days and have been having a lot of mono no aware moments, so learning about the concept allowed me to put a name to my thoughts and feelings.
I am thankful I was finally able to see the beautiful cherry blossoms this year. Plus, DC is just so nice, the weather was great, and because of Covid, the cherry blossoms area wasn't as crowded as it normally is. I'll leave you with some of my favorite photographs of cherry blossoms around the world, which I hope to be able to see in person one day.
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