Bamboo story
“The first year it sleeps, the second year it creeps, the third year it leaps.”
Stay safe. Stay home. Isolation. Social distancing.
We all feel like our lives have been put on pause for an undetermined date. Our routines do not exist any more, our days are exactly the same, we keep seeing the same person(s) (if we are lucky to see anyone)… It is not hard to start feeling stale and unproductive.
I felt that too, for a moment and then I remembered the life story of the Chinese bamboo. When you plant bamboo sprout in the ground for a couple of years, or sometimes even 4–5 nothing happens. This little sprout is just there, not growing no matter what you do — water, fertilize, sing, play classical music… Nothing! But then around 5th year, it suddenly grows 27m in just 6 weeks!!!
For the whole five years, little bamboo sprout was working on its roots, making them strong, long, deep into the ground, building the foundation for the rest of its life. Patience and persistence on the work inside.
We might not be starting anything new at the moment, and are forced to be quiet but these stale days can definitely be the moment to work on our roots so that when this is over we flourish and strive.
We have this intermezzo in our lives that we dreamt about at least once for sure, to stop and breath and reflect and rest. We have this blessing of time to do things we always wanted to do (inside!) to learn something new, to become better in something old. We have this once in a lifetime opportunity to go back to our roots, reconnect with family members and friends and feel loved.
And the most important of all we can work on our grounding and foundations, we can strengthen our own core.
Nothing will be the same when this ends, and that's where is the magic of the unknown and the new world we will find. There lies the hope for us too, to be different, to be a better version of ourselves then when this all started. For bamboo having strong roots means that can never be ripped out of the ground or broken, and in the worst storm, it bends!
Let's try to be like bamboo and appreciate the stillness, nurture our roots, strengthen our core to be ready when the spring comes and we are invited to bloom.
Note: This is my very romantic and idealised way of looking at the current situation, I know this positivism might not be everyone´s cup of tea. Living through my own storms I learned that this too shall pass and life will resume, one way or another.
