Water the Bamboo

Greg Bell, a motivational speaker provides the metaphor, Water The Bamboo,*  to explain that success in life's endeavors takes both time and work. 

With giant timber bamboo, farmers begin with a seed.  Then they water. Nothing happens in the first year. In the second year, nothing sprouts. In the third year, still no growth appears. They water and wait.

In the fourth year, the bamboo stalks will shoot 90 feet in just 60 days! The bamboo requires patience and water before it springs from the soil.

Writers need to realize this also.  An idea in seed formation may take years to sprout into a piece of writing.  We nurture ideas but often must wait for their time to blossom.  Patience becomes key as well as staying aware and vigilant for the connections among the sensory imagery that swirls around us in each moment. In the meantime, we write

We require the echo-effect of memory to bind the past, color the present, then springboard to the future. What do the tendrils of experience enable us to write about?  Our greatest assets become the curiosity to catch life in motion, then let the percolation and synthesis occur as our intuition collates the variety of associations. The commitment to a writing routine means watering our bamboo.

Bernard Cooper believes, "Writing takes place in body, mind and emotions.  It catapults the writer beyond him- or herself."

Creative Write: Begin today to pay attention to the world from your own perceptions, not others' ideals.  How do people, culture and society travel through you?  Experience moments in the same way with your sensory awareness.  Reflect on your observations and experiences.  Then discover the words to connect these insights to others. Decide about your values and what you care about. Water the bamboo of your own words.


*http://waterthebamboo.com/how_it_works/overview.html