january 2010 {tota press}

Inspiration

Happy New Year! Cheers to another start of a new year, where we can restart/reboot ourselves to plan and hope for a year full of goodness. All Japanese families gather together {New Years is the biggest traditional holiday - almost the equivalent of Thanksgiving here in the US} for a meal heavy on symbolism to wish for a joyous, healthy and prosperous year.

Symbolism is a huge part of Japanese history and culture. During my last visit to Japan, I visited Nikko in the Tochigi prefecture, which is the home of Toshogu, a lavishly decorated shrine and the mausoleum of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site - justified by its beautiful grounds, rich history and presence of significant cultural relics. It rained for my visit, but I still enjoyed an inexplicably peaceful walk through the site and learning so much about it. One of my favorite new discoveries was one relatively small object - a helmet which was part of a Samurai war armour that Tokugawa Ieyasu gifted to his grandson, Tokugawa Iemitsu. The helmet {on display at Taiyu-in in the complex} had a large gold dragonfly on the top center. Dragonflies fly directly forward never deviating from its path; Traditionally known as katsumushi or the "victorious insect", the dragonfly was a favorite symbol of strength among Japanese warriors. This philosophy - to be always forward-moving despite any distractions or barriers - was the message that a grandfather wanted to give to his grandson. Despite this being more for war fighting {which is not something I believe in}, I was fascinated by the symbolic creature prominently adorning the helmet. And at the time of a new year, I wanted to borrow that message for all of us to shed the past and move forward with strength and positive energy. So, 1 of the cards has a red dragonfly as a small accent motif with hopefully a bigger meaning.

The 2nd orange card is meant to be a light-hearted design that was inspired by the fireworks, lights and party garlands {I am a long-time fan of the Fabulous Garlands by Sophie Cuvelier} for a fun new years party. The orange was the color choice to honor 2010, which is the year of the tiger {for the Chinese Zodiac}. May your year be fiesty, grand and exciting like our celebrated animal~

May this year bring you amazing experiences, joy, laughter and happiness in all ways~...cheers!


Many much more photos on our Facebook page - January 2010 album »


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