Extend Your Life and Slow Down Time through the Japanese Act of Ichiego-ichie
A Look at how to really document your life — live it!
Every time we document our life as a moment of interest unfolds, we trade the possible future of that moment, and what could have been, for a footnote, by stepping out of the moment and becoming an observer. Our focus shifts from the now to a meta-perspective, where we are conscious of the moment and not lost in it.
The Japanese recognised how precious a moment can be and the concept of ichgo-Ichie became part of their culture.
Taken from Wikipedia, ichgo-Ichie is defined as the following:
Ichiego-Ichie (“one meeting”) is a Japanese four-character idiom (yojijukugo) that describes a cultural concept of treasuring the unrepeatable nature of a moment. The term has been translated as “for this time only”, and “once in a lifetime”. The term reminds people to cherish any gathering that they may take part in, citing the fact that any moment in life cannot be repeated; even when the same group of people gets together in the same place again, a particular gathering will never be replicated, and thus each moment is always a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Ichiego-Ichie brings to mind the Heraclitus quote, “no man ever steps into the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.” This then reminds me of the Greek term panta rei — meaning everything in flux and constantly changing.
The river is different from the first time the man steps into it: the flow is interrupted at different points, the river bed is displaced by his feet in a way unlike before, new life spawned and died. Then you have the man who is, both physically and psychologically, different from his previous self: his cells constantly dividing and changing; his beliefs, thoughts and knowledge updating; his mood changed, and so on.
Life is finite and time the most precious resource we have. Unlike money, sex, fame, and material possessions, it’s a non-renewable resource. We can’t get more of it. And a lot of us spend it in our heads: “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” We need to get out of our heads — not to be confused with getting off our heads — and be present in the moment, the here and now. And in this way, Ichiego-ichie plays somewhat into mindfulness.
Being present in the moment slows down the passage of time from a psychological perspective because we remember the event in greater detail. “The more detailed the memory, the longer the moment seems to last.” Your brain has to process more information, which is especially true with unfamiliar events, and as a result, it processes time slower.
The two concepts work together: the act of Ichigo-ichie allows us the opportunity to create treasured memories we often find ourselves in the reverie of, and in virtue of this, we slow down our perception of the passage of time.
So forget reaching for your smartphone to film or photograph a moment; instead, lose yourself to the moment. You can always document it later, in a journal, allowing yourself to remember events in detail and keep the memory safe in all its vividness and splendour.
For more articles on words:
