068Japanese idiom 四字熟語
一期一会
いちごいちえIchigo ichie
“One life, one meeting.”
Word for wordOne chance in a lifetime.
The meaning
Every encounter is unique and will never repeat identically. Treating it as such changes the quality of our attention and presence.
At the origin
An expression from the Japanese art of tea: each gathering should be honored as if it would never return.
The characters
In practice
Give the next conversation your whole presence, as if it were the last.