045 Strong Because Hollow
Hey Bamboo, you are hollow between your joints, and you bend low in the storms that snap stiffer trees.
How did being empty make you strong?
How can being empty make you strong?
A storm hits a bamboo grove. The tall stems bend so low they almost touch the ground.
Nearby, a stiff tree snaps. When the wind drops, the bamboo stands up again.
What really happens
Bamboo stems are hollow between their joints, with solid walls at each joint.
This makes them light and able to bend far without breaking, so they often survive storms that snap stiffer trees.
How we know: Bamboo's structure is well studied by engineers and botanists; it is one reason bamboo is used in building.
The turn
We think strength means being solid and rigid all the way through.
Bamboo shows another strength: room inside, and the willingness to bend.
Three takeaways
- Bending is not breaking.
- Some emptiness, some space, makes you stronger.
- Flexibility survives storms that stiffness does not.
The bamboo bends low, and stands again.
Clay is fashioned into vessels; but it is on their empty hollowness, that their use depends.