Prepared with sincerity and served with respect
I had the chance to participate, as a guest, in a Japanese tea ceremony. Attention was called to a banner with Japanese script reading “ichigo ichie,” literally, one time, one meeting. In the larger context, we were told, it means every moment is once-in-a-lifetime. Therefore, hold it close. In the context of the tea ceremony, it meant the tea would be “prepared with sincerity and served with respect.” And it was. No surprise, I related it to theater. That’s what theater is, I think. In preparing, and in serving a performance, the artist honors the moment, creates the moment, even, just as the ones leading the tea ceremony did. It happens once. The moment is over. But it also remains.