Ichigo-ichie: The Magic Of Little Things

An anonymous account tells that a teacher asked her students to write what were the seven wonders of the world today. Although there were variations between the different lists, they featured human constructions such as the Colosseum in Rome, the Tah Majal or the Great Wall of China.

When collecting the work of each student, the teacher noticed that there was a girl who had not finished yet. She was so focused that she didn’t want to distract her. When he was done, he just asked her to read his list of wonders aloud.

Very nervous, the student said that it had been difficult for her to decide, because there were many, but that she already had her list:

“For me, the seven wonders of the world are being able to see, being able to hear, being able to touch, being able to smell, being able to taste, being able to laugh and being able to love.”

The class fell into a reflective and admiring silence.

Why don’t we value what we have?

It is a pity that to value the best things in life we ​​have to lose them. Wouldn’t it be much more lucid to realize the magic that surrounds us here and now?

This is the purpose of the book Small Course in Everyday Magic published by the philosopher Anna Sólyom, where this author of Hungarian origin points out that the secret to celebrating the wonders that surround us is in gratitude, curiosity and mindfulness.

If instead of complaining we give thanks every day for the things we have, for the beautiful people who accompany us, for the experiences we live each day, immediately existence becomes a playground.

If we approach each moment with the curiosity of a child, everything will be an exciting learning. For this, it is essential that we put all five senses in what we do, like the girl in the story. In addition to taking life with humor and love.

Everyday magic is within our grasp in acts as simple as walking to work looking at the world around us – instead of staring at the cell phone -, in the candle we light when we get home, or in the mid-afternoon break for tea:

“The touch of the hot cup, especially in winter, is very comforting (…). Let the taste of the tea invade your mouth, pay attention to that fragrant sensation and disconnect from whatever else is going through your head (…). This afternoon break is your oasis to recharge your batteries and thus be able to face what awaits you later ”.

How to create unforgettable moments

Precisely the tea ceremony, as conceived by the old Japanese masters, is a reference exercise to stop the mental whirlwind and awaken our senses to the world around us.

It is no coincidence that the first tea houses were located in the middle of the forest, that the utensils are of special beauty and that in traditional rooms there is usually a tablet with the enigmatic inscription Ichigo-ichie, created in the 16th century by the founder of The tea ceremony.

This Japanese expression literally means “once, an opportunity”, and could be translated as: “what we are going to experience right now will never be repeated”.

This concept –which has focused my last book with Héctor García, Ichigo-ichie, the Japanese art of living unforgettable moments – emphasized the importance of treating the host with Ichigo-ichie, as if it were the last time we were going to have dealings with him or her, living with intensity so that the most beautiful memory possible remains.

As the teacher Yamanoue Soji wrote in 1588: “If we become aware of how extraordinary each moment is, we will realize that each meeting is a unique occasion in our life. “

The awareness of the unrepeatable

Realize that everything we live is unique and unrepeatable, a magic trick that will never be re-enacted on the stage of life. That is where, in short, the everyday magic is. From this perspective, everything we experience – a sunrise, the preparation of a new dish, the discovery of a song, the meeting with an old friend – has something wonderful about it.

The writer Raphaëlle Giordano wrote a novel entitled Your second life begins when you discover that you only have one , and perhaps that is precisely the essence of everyday magic: becoming aware that before and after us there was and will be an infinite nothingness, and that It is already a miracle that we are here to celebrate the things of the world and the people in our lives.

Realizing this rekindles a magic that has always been there, waiting to be awakened to illuminate our days.