A Flower and a speck of dust

My friend whatsapp a photo taken at Gardens by the Bay which is celebrating the Cherry Blossom festival. I pulled out my photo taken at the same place a week ago and sent to the chat group. I was so tickled by the contrast. Both pictures have the beautiful cherry blossom trees as the backgroud, but one lady spent time to adorn herself to blend with the scene while the other woman did injustice to the beauty of the garden with her shabby outfit. My husband described the contrast as "An aunty vs a princess".

My friend wore a red cheongsam collared Chinese blouse draped with a flowery pink silk shawl complete with a straw hat topped with pink and red flowers. She looked really gorgeous against the dense cherry blossom trees. I wore a loose T shirt draped with an ill matching cheap looking shawl, a pair of ill fitting knee length pants and sports shoes. I was even holding a small shopping bag.

We had a good laugh. I told her she did the organisers proud and worth their effort.  Another friend suggested that she sent her photo to GBTB. In contrast I was disrespectful to the venue and the beautiful flowers. In jest she replied she was vain and took the trouble to dress up for taking nice photos. To be fair my visit was at the spur of the moment when my husband miraculously agreed to go with me. Now that is just an excuse.

My friend's behaviour reminds me of IKIGAI, a Japanese word which essentially means ' a reason for living' or 'value in being'. It is living with an intention in even the most mundane task. The 'reason' in living encompasses finding worth in each task.

This is quite typical of my friend's behaviour. She is never in a rush and is always very present as if deliberately slowing down to live each moment. I always feel very relaxed in her presencce.

On reflecting the GBTB visits, I am quite positive she took more out of the experience than I had. Not only that she honours the effort of the organisers. She celebrates with them. If the flowers have a soul (and who knows ) they will remember her as one who was with them, while I was a just a speck of floating dust.