I stumbled upon this lovely little phrase in Japanese a while back. Ichigo ichie (一期一会), which means: one time, one meeting. It says that every encounter: every conversation, every smile, or every shared silence, is entirely unique. It won’t ever happen in quite the same way again.
Lately, I find myself coming back to this thought more and more. And as I hold onto that thought, I can’t help but feel how it correlates with what I’ve learned. The emphasis on intention, on being present, on doing good even in the smallest of things. There’s this Hadith that always gets me:
🌿 If the Hour is about to be established and one of you was holding a palm shoot, let him plant it.
Even when the world is ending, you plant. You honor the moment you’re in.
Islam teaches me that now matters. That no act is too small. That nothing is wasted.
Maybe that’s the heart of ichigo ichie:
☁️ To slow down.
☁️ To see.
☁️ To treat the moment like something precious, because it is.
Maybe it’s just a random grab ride, a passing question from lecturer in the middle of class, or a simple lunch at student mall. But what if we saw it all as a meeting we’ll never have again? Would we let things go unsaid? Leave kindness undone?
Or would we slow down, appreciate it more and maybe be a little braver and happier?
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