Cherry blossom reflections

The Cherry blossom tree is the source of my inspiration for one of my handmade tree pendants. Since cherry blossoms have a short life span, it is often associated with the symbolic meaning to life’s cycle. Personally, it reminds me of how important every minute of the day is. Most of the time we get sucked into the hustle and bustle of this modern world that we forget to know how it is like to live. I know how that feels. I have lived that part of my life when I was so driven with my career. I ended up spending every day worrying about work, bills to pay and chores. I didn’t know then how it feels like to enjoy a warm cup of coffee, a chocolate cake on the side and just let time stand still. Stressful work environment started to take its toll on me. I got diagnosed with hyperthyroidism.

My results were off the charts. My doctor only gave me two options. Either take my thyroid out or have a radiation. I didn’t opt for any of these. He gave me thyroid meds to control the levels and see if it goes down. I made a decision for myself to see if going to the gym and changing my lifestyle can help me out with my situation. I decided to change my lifestyle. I started going to the gym and changing my diet. A miracle started happening. For the first year, my thyroid levels went down every month. The following year my doctor reduced my meds. By January 2011, I wanted to see if my thyroids would function normal without medication. My latest test as of December 2012, indicated that my thyroids were functioning at normal condition. My doctor was surprised. He just advised me to continue on my lifestyle changes.

A dear friend told me that the happiness factor is important. I also get hard times and bad days like everybody does. The only difference now is that I give appreciation to the simple things I see and experience in life like blue skies or simply just a warm cup of coffee. I am thankful for just being alive and being able to create and express myself in my art. I wish one day I would be able to experience the season of the Cherry blossoms in Japan. They only bloom for a week or so. A nice reminder on how short life is and how important to live each moment and be in the present and let go of the past and not worry so much about tomorrow.

My handmade Tree of Life pendant with Cherry blossoms as my inspiration.

For my tree of life collection, I decided to make a Cherry blossom Tree. I made this pendant with Cherry Quartz, freshwater pearls, glass beads and crystals. My handmade tree pendant is wire wrapped in stainless wires.