I am just back from a week with my mum in the UK with the kids. Hardly a thought about work, including “out loud”, and wondering what I have to say about this movement of sorts, this time around…

And then I hit on a story. I came back to a dry garden after a week of heat here in Vancouver. Before we left, I noticed a bamboo shoot coming through, wide and strong. “Let’s protect this one kids,” I foretold, ” because this type of bamboo is strong enough for you hang from it like panda bears.”

True enough, we returned to a 1 metre bamboo right where we want it. And then I heard a shriek from the kids – “We have 6 new shoots coming through!” I asked them to show me, but I couldn’t see one of the ones they referred to. “Over there!”

I peered and poked around, and then, of course!, I looked up. And there it was, already 3 metres tall!

(The header image is a selfie of the top of my head with the new growth on the right…)

Bizarrely, and even though it is true, I have to keep reminding myself of this fact, some bamboo, like in my garden, can grow so fast that you can physically see it grow in front of your eyes.

It is a majestic growth too, straight and true, and able to carry the weight of several fully grown humans. It bends and sways, yet bounces back upright. It forgives. It has the power to burrow straight through walls of concrete. Bamboo is a beast. It is tough to chew; a panda has to be pretty focused all day long to wear it down.

I have witnessed, in the last couple of International Work Out Loud experiments, people burst forth and grow strong, like my bamboo did in my week away. John Stepper and others have written about the transformative growth effect is has on individuals and groups.

Right now, I have the hose on it, to refresh and replenish it. That’s what International Work Out Loud Week feels like to me: a cool, refreshing refill in an otherwise parched environment.

Cheers!

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