The Perfect Blossom

‘365 challenge’ day 12: The Perfect Blossom

There is a line from the movie The Last Samurai that really echoed in my mind. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. In the garden admiring a cherry blossom Moritsugu Katsumoto says to Cpt. Nathan Algren,

“The perfect blossom is a rare thing. You could spend your entire life looking for one, and it would not be a wasted life.”

That a purpose of life can be about searching for what one finds most beautiful in this world. The perfect blossom. Questing for that beauty which you feel true connection and admiration for. That even if one does not find the perfect blossom, the paragon of beauty, the search itself is a noble one.

But in watching the film I started to question the validity of this line. That in failing to come into contact with the thing in life that one finds the most beautiful. Was it truly not a wasted life?

SPOILERS:

Upon his death the end of movie Moritsugu Katsumoto staring up the cherry blossoms says,

“Perfect…they are all perfect”

Was his dying realization that life itself is beautiful?

Were all the blossoms perfect because one can find the perfection and beauty they seek in all facets of life?

My interpretation is that true perfection is an illusion. So in saying that all the blossoms were perfect he was saying none of them are perfect. That beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder. So every blossom was perfect in a way unique to someones view of beauty and in his dying moments he saw all of perceptions of beauty and perfection.

What do you think?