Filling the gaps

I guess you can tell what a peaceful and safe country you live in by watching the evening news. In my homeland, today’s evening news began with coverage on suspected use of chemical weapon, then terror attack, followed by missile launch, and onto political turmoil… all happening far away from us. Our top domestic news? In which towns cherry blossoms are coming to full bloom. How peaceful and safe.

 

In fact, so peaceful and safe, I am guessing that many of my people did not watch the evening news at all. Rather, they were probably out to see the cherry blossoms specially illuminated for nighttime viewing. I am pretty sure, because there was a looong queue at my backyard (well, almost) to see its famous weeping cherry tree in full bloom! (I planned to go see it on my way home, but the queue was so long, I got discouraged and came straight home.)

 

Now, I will not criticize my people for choosing to go see the cherry blossoms over watching the evening news – I guess it is in our blood to adore these pretty pink petals and we cannot help but go crazy over them when they bloom! But I wish we did a little more than just be awed by their unparalleled beauty (to us, anyway).

 

Maybe we could stop taking peace and safety for granted and acknowledge how privileged we are to be able to stop and smell the… well, not roses, but cherry blossoms for us.

Maybe we could think about how our peace and safety of today came about, and ponder how we can maintain them amidst dangerously delicate situations all around us.

And maybe we could come up with ideas to fill the gaps between us and those we think are far away from us, so that we could all feel a little more peaceful and safe.

 

Maybe what I am trying to say is, we have placed on ourselves strict rules to remain peaceful and safe from the harsh lessons that we have learned in the past, but that should not restrict us from practicing assisting others to become peaceful and safe, away from the harsh environments that they are presently experiencing. I guess I just want more people to be able to jump over the gaps and come see our sanctuous cherry blossoms.

 

I think I will take a day off tomorrow and think about how the gaps between us and the world can be filled while I take a long walk under the cherry blossoms in full bloom. (And hopefully, it will not be too crowded and I will finally be able to take some good photos to share with you!) In the meanwhile, let me fill the gap with a few more tatted cherry blossoms:

 

A few two-coloured blossoms filling the gaps between solid-coloured ones from here… so many more gaps to fill!