I am a Bamboo

I am a bamboo. We are all bamboo. Bamboo is a mystical plant as a symbol of strength, flexibility, tenacity, endurance and compromise. Bamboo can grow up to 4 feet within an hour – depending on the type of bamboo it is. Bamboo is a fascinating plant and humans who live around bamboo are amazed at how resilient this plant is. But what we don’t know is that before bamboo sprout they have spent many, many years under the ground creating a root system. Then when the bamboo actually sprouts out, it shoots up very fast. Even if they get chopped down they grow right back up.

So, this is why I say I am a bamboo. Right now I am still under the ground building my root system – my foundation, my support system, my values, my beliefs, my likes, my dislikes, my future. College is really the time for me to create a base for me to stand on. That’s exactly what I am doing, especially with studying abroad, twice.

Throughout Asia, bamboo has for centuries been integral to religions ceremonies, art, music and daily life. It is the paper, the brush and the inspiration of poems and paintings. Among the earliest historical records, 2nd century B.C. were written on green bamboo strips strung together in a bundle with silk thread. Instruments made of bamboo create unique resonance.

For ancient Chinese for whom Dao, Buddha and Confucius formed boundaries of actuality, a measured, meaningful life was defined and created in terms of, in relationship with, bamboo.

The Chinese said, believed and knew that "it", meaning quality of life, began with bamboo and ended with bamboo. To study bamboo, to master its many modes, its many utilities, its aesthetic dimensions defined a lifetime well lived.

Bamboo is a natural. Like grass it grows rapidly and propagates itself if left alone. Like wood it is strong, grows many places and has many, many uses. Given its way, bamboo will hold hillsides in place against raging waters unleashed from above. It is here to shelter, to fashion tools, to weave baskets, to help water obey, to provide beauty and sounds.

I’m a little obsessed with Bamboo. As you can already tell.

Got some of my information from http://www.lewisbamboo.com/habits.html.