‘For this time only, and never again’
Having been born into a family with Japanese heritage and spent a lot of time in Japan, I have always known the Japanese to pay great care towards everything they do, even the little things, like how much tea to pour into a cup, how to wrap a gift or how to greet a guest. I was recently introduced to the Japanese proverb ‘ichigo ichie’ (eechee go eechee eh) by my Japanese sensei (teacher). The phrase is literally translated as one (ichi) time (go) one (ichi) meeting/encounter (e), or ‘for this time only, and never again’ or ‘in this moment, an opportunity’. What this means to tell us is that each meeting, everything we experience, is a unique treasure that will never be repeated in the same way again. So, if we let it slip away without enjoying it, the moment will be lost forever.
The expression has its origins in the centuries’ old Japanese tea ceremony, where great emphasis is placed on recognising the transience of meetings between the tea ceremony host and the tea ceremony participants. And so, great care and attention is paid towards all tea ceremony tasks; the laying of seasonal flowers; the cleaning of the utensils; the silence in the room as the water boils.
Ichigo ichie is a wonderful way to bring small moments of joy into everyday life. It may be significant once in a lifetime encounters, but also, importantly, attention to everyday moments in our lives. Watching a sunset, a moon rise, your child’s first steps, a conversation with a stranger on a train journey or seeing a rare, beautiful animal or 1000-year-old tree. It could even be simply laughing with your child about something so little and silly, like a milk moustache. Moments of appreciation can also be paid to what we may view as the more mundane details of our everyday lives. For example, one can separate her job into a collection of small tasks, each which deserves its own attention and each which produces a unique outcome.
While I’ve been cooking on holiday in Italy, I have enjoyed using the fresh and interesting ingredients. I took care in washing, separating, cutting,and cooking the ingredients in a variety of dishes and have enjoyed this process, almost more than the dish itself! I realised that with little to do on holiday, I had more time to enjoy the few things I did do. It made me realise that cutting back on the number of things on our ‘to do’ list and focusing more on the few things we really need to do, we can enjoy the process even more. This was great news to my family, who have said that they enjoyed the food and that it would be great to cook like that again at home!
I remember as a child helping my father store away our snorkelling and beach gear in the storage area below the house after our day at the beach, a ‘chore’ we did every time we went to the beach, which was frequently. I then had the idea to find a few photos of the two of us and said to him that we should look for a hidden spot in the storage area for those photos. We spent about five minutes doing this. When we finally found the spot, I looked up at him and smiled, knowing that it was something that only the two of us knew. I remember those five minutes like it was yesterday. It was never to be replicated again, and in that moment, it felt like a lifetime of laughter and smiles, also captured in those photos. I am sure if my father were alive today, he too would have remembered that moment. We made a mundane task enjoyable, memorable and were fully present.
My eldest daughter, Sophie, recently spent a month in Nepal. Reaching Nepal was an arduous task; a malfunctioning airplane tyre left her stranded in Bangkok airport for three nights, waiting for a flight. By the end of day two, she realised she could not control the outcome and made the best of her stranded time. She got to know the employees at the airport, the daily specials, which were typically a Thai curry of some sort, and chatted with other customers, stranded or not, and even bumped into a friend she had met in Sri Lanka. The day after Sophie finally arrived in Nepal, she travelled to Chitwan National Park. After a full day of safari in the jungle, she was very lucky to spot a Bengal Tiger. Caught in awe, Sophie admired this majestic creature lapping the sweet water from the lake. She loved every minute of her forty-minute encounter, knowing that spotting the elusive Bengal tiger was a rare experience. To this day, she has fond memories of this time and finds comfort in the knowledge that had she not been delayed at Bangkok airport, she may not have encountered this unique experience. Even her time at Bangkok airport holds a special, humorous place in her heart!
Ichigo ichie cannot be directly translated, as it also comes with the feeling associated with enjoying the moment, being fully present, knowing that the very moment will be gone as we notice it. But whether you are Japanese or not, you can make it a part of your life.
Thank you for reading my Insight this month. I hope you enjoyed reading about ichigo ichie.
With warmest wishes,
Lisa
