In the Midst of Falling Cherry Blossom // Love Letter, January 2021

Good day and hello 2021! I hope the transition of the year has been peaceful for you and your loved ones. Our family's transition looked and felt so starkly different from anything we have experienced before. It very much summed up the unusual season we are in right now. For our family, A series of events in 2020 unpacked many (often unconsciously) held assumptions of what we have accepted as "normal." It has challenged Frido to tinker with his creativity to teach his design classes through a new lens, encouraged our girls to be flexible and embrace a totally new way of learning, and ultimately put us in the process of relocating our home. We decided to let go of nearly 80% of our material possessions in the short span of a month. We sold big furniture including our couch, dining table, and beds. We donated many household items like utensils and clothes. We gave away toys and art supplies to friends, and so much more. We LOVED the process of letting go as we felt so much lighter and freer as days went by. At some point, I asked myself if "our life" was physically being deconstructed right in front of my eyes in the same way a permanently built structure fell apart, only to feel awaken that we were in the midst of beautiful falling cherry blossoms. You see, in Japanese culture, the cherry blossom is considered worthy of celebration, but the beauty of the atmosphere filled with floating pink petals when the spring wind blows is beyond what words can express. It happens in the blink of an eye; surreal beauty is only shown at the moment before the petals land on the ground and return to the earth readying to become nutrients for next year's growth. During the last month of our stay in the house with many beautifully bare white walls and open space for a fresh breath of air, I realized that we were, at that moment, meant to embrace the last few moments there and deeply enjoy and love the house that grew with us over the last decade so we could let it go and it could let us go. 

And I think it's similar to how we decided to treat our transition into the new year, much like Trina and how she is practicing to focus on "now". 

This year, especially more than any other year, I am embracing the idea that we are simply a part of the ever-evolving, upward spiral of nature's cyclical season. And knowing that inspires me to hold immense gratitude to the new day we greet each morning and the generosity of the world around us.

So with that in my mind, let's do this, 2021:) Who is with me? 

-wakako

always a work in progress...

Orange County, California // January 4th, 2020

**This is from our BK Love Letter for January 2021. If you would like to see the entire love letter we sent to our community, you can browse it via this link.