The Hopeful Plums of Winter

Mi Gente Querida...

Thank you for being here. It hasn't been easy to write in the last couple of months, and I'm sorry for my hiatus. However, I hope today's InnoLatino's issue can bring you some healing, as well as the priceless energy we all need to tackle the week ahead. We're going to be visiting the land of the rising sun, so buckle up for the ride...

Another Reason to be Grateful

Speaking of rides, today was a beautiful and shining winter morning and my wife and I were driving back home after dropping off our kids from school. Graciously, I slowed down as I was approaching an intersection where I'd turn left into my neighborhood (in winter you just never know where black ice might be, Mi Gente).

As I was gradually lifting my foot from the brake pedal, right from behind a silver SUV decided to cut us off to get ahead in the intersection, only to plunge (no braking involved) into the car in front of us.

I'm so grateful that no one got seriously injured. But most importantly, if I had decided to release the brakes any faster, the car would have probably hit us right on my wife's side (what a nightmare!).

We pulled into a parking lot nearby and my eternal companion sent a prayer of gratitude for our well-being and the well-being of those involved in the accident. It made me reflect on how fragile life can be, and how we should appreciate our moments together. Also, I admire how my wife's immediate reaction was to offer a sincere prayer of gratitude. That in itself was a healing and defining moment.

Which brings me to the next story.

Plums in the Wintertime

This story was posted on LinkedIn originally by my friend and fellow writer Kyota Ko. It moved me so much that I decided to write my take on the story, with his blessing, of course. Y'all should really follow him and get his books. His storytelling, which revolves greatly on Japanese culture demonstrates a deep sense of empathy and great craft. It's some powerful stuff, I tell ya.

Click on the play icon to know more about my friend, Kyota ?? (or at least listen to the story he tells on minute 15:00 of the podcast, it's called "The Prisoners of Kuden Macho", it's going to help you restore faith in humanity).

Now...You've probably heard about the gorgeous Cherry Blossoms ("Sakura") during the springtime in Japan. Beautiful stuff, right? Now, despite how popular and iconic Sakura's are, there's another fruit that has had historic significance among the Japanese: Plums.

I think their name in Japanese is "Ume", but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong (hey, I'm only starting to learn the language, people). Unlike the one plum tree in my backyard, plums in Japan historically have bloomed in frigid conditions, especially towards the end of wintertime.

On the other hand, for centuries Japanese traditional homes were made mostly of thin wood and paper. So, you can envision how insulated they were in sub-freezing temperatures year after grueling year. I can only imagine how many succumbed to the cold conditions through the ages, and the ominous feeling of danger when cold fronts and snowstorms arrived.

Curiously (or miraculously, maybe?), when plums bloom, they also emit a distinctive scent across the fields. The sight of plum flowers, along with their innate scent, gave people the hope they needed to see winter through, just because they knew now spring was around the corner.

They would give people the courage to hold on a little longer, until they could feel like telling each other, "We made it! We did it!" I can visualize the collective feeling of gratitude and joy for being alive once they saw the plum trees blossoming.

It was probably similar to the same feeling my wife and I felt this morning as we were saved from injury and maybe death.

A Resilient People

If there's something that has characterized the Japanese culture is their amazing resilience.

If you don't see their amazing ability to rise as a society to the face life's challenges, I invite you to consider the constant internal and bloody infighting that characterized the Sengoku period (XV and XVI centuries), along with a historic high child mortality rate until late XIX century, and if it wasn't enough, Japan was on the receiving end of two nuclear attacks that caused hundreds of thousands of deaths in mere moments.

Now consider the valor and ethic of Japanese society while pulling themselves together after every single horrible event, til finally entering the realm of developed nations in the second half of the XX century. It's worth noticing that despite the many setbacks that their economy has suffered, Japan has remained among the most solid economies in the world even to this day.

Is there anything we can learn from them? We'll revisit this in our next edition of InnoLatino.

WARNING??: I'm going to get a little religious for the rest of this issue. Keep reading at your own risk ??.

Be a Plum Tree, Mi Gente

A late religious leader called Thomas S. Monson said a very simple and yet very accurate phrase:

We were not placed on this earth to walk alone. -

I have the strong conviction that God has (figuratively) planted plum trees around me that have bloomed to help me heal through this and other winters. I think that one of these plum trees has been my friend, Kyota Ko, since his writings have provided me with healing, strength and inspiration to keep going with commitment to a just cause.

Stories like the ones he writes about, have helped me carry on during my own winters.

To those of you who have provided healing to a friend, a comforting smile, a word of encouragement (especially when they themselves needed one of those), I say to you and from the heart:

I hereby tell you, man, I even dare to testify to you, Mi Gente, that heaven, even the universe does look upon these good deeds and recompense them accordingly. Sometimes it might not be the way we expect or want, but the promise is there.

Now be a plum tree to those around you, friends.