The Wisdom of Bamboo

I live in a fairly rural part of Virginia on a dirt road that winds up, down, and around the hills. I love to walk along that road. It is a place where I find peace, clarity, amusement, and, occasionally, an epiphany.

One day, as I was walking, I noticed that on nearly every piece of trash someone had tossed from a car—a beer can, a fast-food wrapper, a snack bag—our local groundhog had carefully deposited a little pile of poo. It felt like a very clear message about what the neighbors think of us humans and the litter we leave behind.

We also have a stand of bamboo that grows larger every year. Each season, migrating starlings roost there, filling the grove with an astonishing chorus of chatter. 

One afternoon, during a rainstorm, I ducked into the bamboo for shelter. I knew I would still get wet on the walk home, but standing beneath the tall stalks kept me relatively dry until the heaviest part of the shower had passed. The wind seems amplified in the bamboo, perhaps because of the millions of slender leaves that rustle together. The bamboo itself, though tall and strong, sways and breathes with every gust. The stalks clatter against one another, and during stronger winds they almost seem to groan. While the overall effect is soothing, it is certainly not a quiet place.

Nature has a way of offering lessons wherever we are willing to notice them. Sometimes they're humorous, and sometimes, like the bamboo, they're deeply instructive.

This month,  through the Linn Academy we are exploring the Flexibility card from the Sacred Destiny deck, illustrated by bamboo bending in the wind. The card reminds us that bamboo yields to the wind rather than resisting it. It bends without breaking.

Bamboo has many lessons to teach. It represents flexibility, resilience, the strength that comes from a deep and well-established root system, and remarkable growth. It also demonstrates versatility. I have walked on beautiful bamboo flooring in a home, and I have knit a soft chemotherapy cap for a friend using environmentally sustainable bamboo yarn. 

If you have ever tried to remove bamboo, you already know its determination. Some stalks can grow more than twenty-five feet tall, while the underground roots spread so far that surprise shoots may appear twenty feet or more from the original grove. Yet what fascinates me most is that when you step into a stand of bamboo, there is only bamboo. It has a remarkable integrity. Although it can certainly be invasive, it creates a community of its own as other plants gradually yield to its extensive roots and the deep shade cast by its towering stalks.

As you move through this month, spend some time with Bamboo. Perhaps find a photograph of it and make it your screen saver so you are reminded of its quiet wisdom throughout the day. Notice how many of its qualities you can cultivate in your own life. Be flexible when the winds are strong, and resilient enough to stand tall again when they pass. Create your own shelter. Draw strength from your own roots. Allow yourself to flourish in unexpected places, and remember to use every gift and talent you possess. Most of all, be so grounded in who you are that your own inner voice becomes the one you hear most clearly.