Sakura Matsuri

My favorite tree has always been cherry blossoms and so this weekend my boyfriend took me to the Sakura Matsuri festival. Every year the Botanic Garden in Brooklyn celebrates traditional and contemporary japanese culture with performances, food, and people dressing up.

When I turned 18 I got a cherry blossom tattoo because I love what it symbolizes:

"The significance of the cherry blossom tree in Japanese culture goes back hundreds of years. In their country, the cherry blossom represents the fragility and the beauty of life. It's a reminder that life is almost overwhelmingly beautiful but that it is also tragically short. When the cherry blossom trees bloom for a short time each year in brilliant force, they serve as a visual reminder of how precious and how precarious life is. So, when Japanese people come together to view the cherry blossom trees and marvel at their beauty, they aren't just thinking about the flowers themselves, but also about the larger meaning and deep cultural tradition the cherry blossom tree."