A lesson in life's fundamental conditions of radical changeability.

It is official. Cherry blossoms are here this year again.

The Japanese craze for cherry blossoms (sakura) is world famous now. The love for the five-petal flower is so deeply embedded in the Japanese psyche that we take it almost for granted, like the air we breathe.

The essence of the cherry blossoms is that they are so ephemeral. The first blooming of the cherry blossoms is always a major news making national headlines, partly because it is so unpredictable. Once they bloom, you cannot tell how long they will last. The whole affair is tinged with subtle and transient signs. You must learn to read and interpret these elusive manifestations of nature. 

Unpredictability and ephemerality are the hallmarks of the cherry blossom phenomenon. The blooming and perishing of these lovely flowers is a lesson in life's fundamental conditions of radical changeability, repeated every year.