Someone online shared with me this little phrase in Japanese. Ichigo ichie (一期一会) which means: one time, one meeting. It says that every encounter including every conversation, every smile, or every shared silence, is entirely unique. It will never happen in quite the same way again.
I struggled to make sense of the quote because I thought that's just how life is. But actually the meaning is deeper. It correlates with the emphasis on intention, on being present, and doing good even in the smallest of things. There’s this Hadith that says:
If the Final Hour comes while you have a shoot of a plant in your hands and it is possible to plant it before the Hour comes, you should plant it.
[Al-Adab Al-Mufrad | Book 27, Hadith 4]
Even when the world is ending, you plant. We might think it's ridiculous because "there's no use, everything is over anyway". But perhaps that's exactly the point.
You do something because the moment itself deserves to be honoured. Not because you're guaranteed to see the results, but because doing good is never dependent on what comes next. It's choosing to be faithful to the present rather than living only for the promise of tomorrow.
The hadith teaches me that now matters. No act of goodness is too small, and no sincere effort is ever wasted.
Maybe that’s the heart of ichigo ichie too. To slow down, to see, and to treat the moment like something precious.
It can be a random grab ride, a passing question from lecturer in the middle of class, or a job we hate going to. But what if we saw it all as a meeting we will never have again? Would we leave kindness undone or let anything unsaid? Would we rush through it as just another routine?
Or would we slow down, appreciate it a little more, and choose to be a little more intentional?
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