Happy Golden Week! How have you been enjoying this season? 

All around Japan in mid-late March the cherry blossoms start to bloom, but in Sapporo it’s usually a month later, at the end of April or early May.  A couple of years in a row I’ve tried to do “Hanami” or cherry blossom viewing with a picnic under the trees, but it either suddenly snows or the wind is still unbearable! This year though, it’s been surprisingly warm, and we’ve had many days to enjoy the wonderfully blooming sakura around the city. Some bloom and already wither away in just a couple of days. That reminded me of something I’ve experienced recently…

Do you enjoy seasons that eventually come to an end, or do you keep telling yourself “this is going to end anyway, how can I enjoy it?” or “last time I didn’t enjoy this season, why should I try to enjoy it again?”

Living in Sapporo, I often meet people that are only here for one year or two, before they move to Tokyo or go abroad. I love Sapporo, so I don’t have any plans on leaving here any time soon, but each time someone left, I felt a little sad. And I realized my heart started to close little by little each time I had to say goodbye. Then at one point, I found myself with very little friendships and prayed “God, why? I want to have friends, but I’m scared I’ll lose them again.” Then God gently encouraged me, “Allow yourself to be sad about saying goodbye, cry if you have to, but then give me that sadness. You don’t need to hold on to it anymore.” So I remembered each time I said goodbye to someone that still somehow hurt me, shed a few tears, and then prayed that all of that pain would go to Jesus instead of stay in my heart. And I also asked God to give me courage and help me open my heart again to meeting new people to make new friends. Just after that prayer I already felt lighter, and more excited to meet people again. And very soon I found myself surrounded by lovely people all over again. 

Since then I have still had to say bye to some friendships, but instead of being sad about the goodbye, I’ve been so grateful for even the short time we’ve spent together. So instead of being sad, I’m more rather joyful and thank people thinking “what an honor it was to live life together for this brief season, thank you!”

I don’t want to miss the joy in brief seasons knowing it’s going to end anyway. The sakura come and go, and maybe friends come and go, but that doesn’t mean I won’t go out to enjoy the beautiful season in the moment.

In Japanese there’s a perfect phrase about this “一期一会” pronounced ichi-go ichi-e, which means living in the moment, or appreciating the moment. I’ll never forget the first time I heard it when I was learning tea ceremony in my first years of Japan in Shiranuka Town, Hokkaido. My tea ceremony teacher told me, “there will never be another day exactly like this one, and the people in this room will never meet again under the same circumstances. This moment right now will never happen again, it is only now, right now. It is very precious, so let us appreciate this moment and this time together.” That really stuck with me. Each time I go to dinner with friends, whether it’s a quick chat at church, or a long chat at a cafe, I really try to take a moment to appreciate it.

I don’t want to live life missing the relationships I could have had because I’m scared they’ll eventually end.

I don’t want to hold on to past hurts that limit my future friendships. 

The next person I meet could be my next new best friend! So I want to keep going out there, and meeting the wonderful people all around me. Some stick around, some don’t, some become friends, some acquaintances, but each moment is precious. I believe there’s a reason we all meet, so I want to keep enjoying these brief moments. Life is fleeting, let’s enjoy the relationships we have been given, and go out again to enjoy time together.

Happy Sakura season everyone!! 

Do you enjoy making new friends? Are you able to say goodbye with a grateful heart? Or has something happened to make that difficult? Let us know!

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