Bruce Lee said: “Be water my friend”, last weekend Garr Reynolds in his talk at TEDxTokyo said: “Be bamboo my friend”. In that sentence, Garr sums up several lessons Japanese people has taught him using bamboo as a metaphor: what looks weak is strong, you do not have to be big to be strong, bend yourself but don’t break yourself, you have to be deeply rooted yet flexible, slow down your busy mind, you have to be always ready, find wisdom in emptiness, commit yourself to growth and renewal (even a 20 meter bamboo cane can grow one meter more), express your usefulness through simplicity, unleash your power to spring back, if you fall 7 times stand up 8 times. Making it short: be flexible, tough, adaptable and able to recover with even more strength, like bamboo.

Every morning, on my way to work I pass by a place with bamboo canes, from now on every time I pass by there I will remember Garr’s words:

Here you have the complete fabulous talk by Garr:

“Be bamboo my friend”