Slow Down. Empathize. Communicate.
Hanami
Hanami
Translated as “flower viewing”, hanami is a Japanese tradition where people gather around to watch cherry blossoms, aka Sakura trees. The cherry blossoms begin to fall two weeks after reaching peak beauty. They believe that cherry blossoms symbolize the beauty and fleeting nature of life.
I’ve been a fan of Japanese culture since I was very young. Traditions like hanami are some of the reasons why. American life is so fast paced that people feel like they’ll fall behind and fail if they stop moving even for a day. Productivity is often confused with efficiency. I believe it’s important to participate in things like this because everybody needs to slow down once in a while.
Empathy
We can look in almost every direction and see chaos and turmoil throughout the world and wonder how we can possibly get through this. One of the first steps in trying to navigate through a historic period marked by chaos and strife is to become more empathetic. There are so many people who claim to be empaths (normally terrible people) and very few people who actually have the ability to exercise empathy on a daily basis. It all starts with yourself. Listen to understand and not just to respond. If we start learning ourselves as individuals, with help from others occasionally, we can become better at empathizing. Empathy holds society together, and a lack of it tears it apart.
Communication
Lockdowns have exacerbated people’s depression and anxiety. It’s no surprise. Many people now prefer to communicate via the internet over face-to-face interaction. I believe that technology has done so many amazing things for us, but we need to be cognizant of the cons of too much tech. Zoom, Skype, FaceTime etc. all make it easier to reach people almost instantly. Social media is also a powerful tool for communication via the internet.
However, I believe that nothing beats face-to-face interaction. Being a part of Gen Z has enabled me to see the effects of too much tech up close. People lose their identities to a fake image online. They begin to forget how to interact like normal human beings. Everything is a joke to most and it’s almost a crime to disagree with somebody’s opinion. If face-to-face communication was valued over communication via the internet, I think we’d be better off.