Ichi-go ichi-e

By Mac Menezes, The sixth of December 2019.

Each encounter is unique and valuable, it embodies the philosophy that every moment spent in an encounter should be highly treasured, for it will never occur again. With that Japanese proverb and a Chinese tale, I write here today “ichi–go ichi-e”.

🇧🇷 Ichi-go ichi-e! – Leia este artigo em Português.

“Some encounters plant seeds that take root over time, while others change the course of one’s life in a single moment.” – Unknown author.

⭐⭐ Tanabata’s legend ⭐⭐

Adapted by Mac Menezes.

Long-time ago the celestial king Tenkou noticed his daughter Orihime, the weaver princess was quite sad, weaving without interruption. He decided to give her all-day free. The weaver princess liked the idea, then she wore her kimono and left through the milky-way river in the sky. During this free day, she met a cattleman named Hikoboshi. He also worked very hard that day, so the celestial king thought he should have been the best partner of Orihime.

The princess was Vega star and the cattleman was Altair star, they had fallen in love, but both had lived in opposite sides of the milk-way river in the sky, even though the distance of light-years that separated both in the sky, their love break all walls.

However, the celestial king realized Orihime’s productivity had decreased and they gradually bumped off their works due to the fact that they prioritized their love. The king Tenkou was upset about this love and decided to ban their love, he put so much water in the “milk-way” river and it was impossible to cross on foot. Milk-way had become a deep and dark river.

Orihime was very sad about the father’s decision, and she couldn’t find her love. She was not weaving anymore and locked herself in her room, she cried all day. So fearing for the worst Tenkou authorized his daughter to see her love Hikoboshi once a year, this day would be the seventh day of the lunar calendar, named as 7th July, the Tanabata. During this day, Tenkou sends many birds to create a bridge in order to Orihime across the milk-way river and find her love, Hikoboshi.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Enjoy each moment

Enjoy each moment of your life because it won’t happen again, it’s a gift from the universe. The Japanese believed the time is like a line, we are going in one direction and there’s no way back. At the moment you are reading this post, you are walking on this line, and this time on history won’t happen again, so why not enjoy this moment like Orihime and her love Hikoboshi. They had permission from the king to see themselves once a year. Can you imagine how painful it is waiting 365 days to see your lover? Well, the Weaver princess was very patient… Now, imagine how pleased is passing all day at side your lover after 365 days? I suppose they enjoyed each second together, they were alive and present at that moment because they knew it won’t happen so early, and every second they are together was a hundred per cent enjoyed, it won’t happen again. So… Ichi-go Ichi-e…

The Japanese proverb

Each moment is unique and valuable, ( 一期 一会 literal translation: “one time, one meeting”) Ichi-go Ichi-e is a cultural concept, the better translation for it would be “for this time only” and “once in a lifetime”. The origins are uncertain, it might have been dated since the 16th century from an expression by tea master Sen no Rikyū: “one chance in a lifetime”.

Enjoy our life

We are getting older each second, mental age it’s relative, of course, but we are going to one life’s certain: death. If you die today and could think about your life from your birth to your last day, would you be happy with your life? Did you enjoy it? Did you let any pendency with someone or something? Did you sorry or thank people you care about? Get a few minutes to think about it, and then answer these questions.

Ichi-go Ichi-e is more than an expression, it’s a philosophy we could follow as well, and we are alive now. If you regret something in your life, we cannot go back in the past but we can do something now to change our future. So we should enjoy moments with our parents, we don’t know how long they will be here, the same applies to our friends and other people we care about.

That’s it, guys. If you enjoyed this post I bring today, please share and leave a comment, and you can use my contact page to suggest anything, give feedback and other purposes.

Enjoy your life!

Mac Menezes

08/12/2019

🇧🇷 Leia este artigo em Português.