…And then there was one…(Or, there are are no ordinary moments)

I helped Angela get her luggage on the train to the airport, and barely got off before the doors closed. We had a leisurely last morning–perhaps a bit too leisurely–since we barely finished in time. We went out to lunch and then had to rush back to my apartment to get her luggage and get her to Shinjuku to catch her train.

Now, she is back on her way home. I remember walking back home, thinking how strange it was to be back to “normal,” whatever that means.

Of course, what we call “normal” is just what we have already accepted as our reality. Anything new or contrary to that is “strange.” But living in a place like this, I have had to challenge my views of what is normal and what is not. We all do. It is still difficult to reconcile at times, as we all experience in our own ways.

I remember in high school, one of my karate instructors used to recommend books for me to read. Some of the books were “deeper” than others, but all of them gave me a new perspective. I remember now that he introduced me to books by Dan Millman, a former gymnastics champion and martial artist, who has written many self-help books, most notably, “The Way of the Peaceful Warrior.” Although his books were interesting to me at the time, this is not a plug for Mr. Millman; in fact, I hadn’t thought about him for a long time. But I do remember one quote that he wrote, which stuck with me: “There are no ordinary moments.”

Every day, every moment, we are faced with new challenges and opportunities. We usually do not see them that way, unless there is some “special” reason, such as an emergency, an illness, or a major milestone in our life.

Another way to express this is with a four-Chinese character idiom:
一期一会。 (In Japanese, it is read, “Ichi Go Ichi Eh”.) It is often translated as, “One encounter, one chance.” The first (and third) character, 一, means “1.” The second, 期, means “period; session; term.” The fourth character, 会, means “to meet.” (Interestingly enough, in Chinese, it also means “to be able to do something.”) So we could also understand this as “Each time is unique and it will never be repeated again, so do not waste it.” (Chinese characters are deep and they contain a lot of meaning. It is often difficult to translate them elegantly.)

In other words, every day is our one and only chance to encounter this exact set of challenges and opportunities. Our life is made up of nothing more than these “ordinary” moments.

As the memory of my sister’s visit fades into the past, I might forget the daily events and the details of what did, and where we went, but those memories will be a part of my life. And as I return to my “ordinary” life, I will face something entirely new.

I eagerly face the next “ordinary moment.”