Poetic Timing

Originally published on November 7, 2017

I traveled to Seattle for my first time recently, and one of the things I knew for a fact I wanted to do while there was pay my respects to Bruce and Brandon Lee. The legacies and messages left behind by both men – in particular, Bruce – feel more prominent than ever before, and as a result, it only seemed right to visit their final resting places.

It was a rainy Saturday afternoon when my friend and I made our way to Lake View Cemetery; a short drive away from Bruce’s alma mater, University of Washington. While we had to navigate our way around the cemetery, we knew we found them once we saw the graves with a surplus number of flowers and coins left behind on them.

My visit, as I realized after the fact, came at both significant and poetic timing. Apart from visiting them during the month of Bruce’s birthday, I also happened to come during the 50th anniversary year since the founding of Jeet Kune Do; the martial arts philosophy that he had created. It was lightly raining when I came by, and while that is nothing new when it comes to Seattle, I later realized that it goes along well with Bruce’s most famous quote: “Be water, my friend.”

Both Bruce and Brandon were ambitiously thoughtful creatives who left this world long before their times. The fact that what they accomplished while here still resonates with and inspires people today – myself included – is perhaps the most powerful realization that came from this visit.