Sunday Stroke Survival ~ Bonsai - Banzai!

Jo Murphey
The Murphey Saga

Sunday, March 30, 2014

When I first scrolled this topic to write about I immediately made the correlation between Bonsai and Banzai. Being half Japanese, I knew that Bonsai was the art of creating little trees that live for decades even centuries. The art of design teaches mind/eye coordination, imagery, patience, and even relaxation and  meditation states.

Yes, I know I should be talking about these little trees, but I'm not. So there! :oP I'll leave that to others.

Now this is where my mind gets quirky. No, it isn't because of the stroke. I was like this before as an author. The little nuances of twists and turns possible with a couple letters changed in a word and slight variation of the meanings. With this revelation, I found I may not have lost all my language skills also. Or not totally.

My mind immediately leaped to the Japanese word "Banzai!" You may remember hearing it in oldWWII movies before an pilot dove his little fighter plane into an American ship. A bold move of harakiri, or Kamakazi, or suicide bomber. Ooh! Two Japanese words! Seeing how this is the first language I spoke, there's hope for my mind yet. I even remembered how to spell them right too!

You probably thought the word meant "Here we go" or something like that. But it doesn't mean any such thing. It's became a battle cry but it could also be a toast at a wedding or christening too. Know what it means? If not you'll have to wait a minute while I shift to the third thought that jumped into my mind.

The third thought that popped into my mind was a movie. Can you guess it?

The movie was based on a comic book series. Buckaroo Banzai. Having it showing on my television didn't hurt either. Awe, the pictures gave it away, right?

Bet you are dying to figure out how I tie these three together.

Bonsai are long lived trees given immense care and attention.

Banzai means Long Life. So it could be used as a battle cry, wedding or christening toast.

Buckaroo Banazai, well that was just a movie, but the hero can't die so he should have a long life.

The moral of all this... Even after a stroke we can have long lives. It may not be what we thought or planned our lives to be, but we can still enjoy it.

As a side note, my maternal grandfather was an engineer that helped bring the Mitsubishi A6M into reality. Otherwise known as the Zero fighter plane. I happen to be very proud of that fact. And, you thought Mitsubishi only made cars. Geez! I also have a Toyota sewing machine circa 1935 that's still working. So much for the "Made in Japan" post war stickers.

Nothing is impossible with determination.

See the original article:

Sunday Stroke Survival ~ Bonsai - Banzai!

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The Murphey Saga