Origami On My Mind

How To Fold An Origami Paper Crane (Orizuru) -

From the day I discovered it as a child I was enamored with origami. Back then, I'd get a stack of colored paper along with a single instruction sheet that would teach me how to make a cup, a hat, and a bird. The package included one sheet each of awesome silver and gold paper, too nice to use, and which always disappeared when I went to look for them. My options were limited, to say the least, but I folded and folded, just loving the transformation from flat to three dimensions.

It wasn't until I was in college that I realized that there were books about origami that could teach me a lot, and so once again, I filled my tabletops, bookshelves, and trashcans with brightly colored critters. I'll happily brag that I can still make an awesome rhinoceros beetle! I especially liked the ones that were practical, like the one you could blow air into to make a ball, the deceptively simple triangle which makes a loud snap with flick of the wrist, and birds whose wings flapped and frogs that jumped.

One year my children and I sat around the breakfast table making origami balls and cranes until we had enough to decorate the Christmas tree. Those are the few I've saved and treasured.

Other than those, all my other creations end up in the trash. This doesn't bother me in the least, because the joy of origami is in the making: the pride of completing a transformation, the muscle-memory of the repetitive folding, the challenge of trying something difficult, the synaptic "a ha" moments when with a single bend of paper, spatial perception shifts completely and surprises unfold.

It's only recently occurred to me that it's a form of meditation to fold the same form over and over again.

At the cancer center where I get my radiation, there is a large jar containing 1000 tiny brightly colored folded cranes, each maybe an inch and a quarter long. It is intended as symbol of hope and healing; an ancient Japanese legend promises that anyone who folds a thousand origami cranes will be granted a wish by a crane, such as long life or recovery from illness or injury. In recent times the story of Sadako Sasaki, a Japanese girl who contracted leukemia as a result of radiation from the atomic bombing of Hiroshima during World War II, has inspired many people to fold cranes as symbols of world peace.

As I entered the radiation waiting room, an open bowl was filled with larger patterned paper cranes, free for the taking. I took one, and reawoke the origami enthusiast in me. Looking around online last night, I see that mathematical origami and polyhedrons are popular now, as well as unit construction and marvelously patterned papers of all weights and sizes. I looked for instruction books, I found an online forum on the topic, videos, and viewed photos from an origami convention (which sounded like fun). I must admit that the people in the photos looked a lot like people who attend science fiction conventions - geeks, all of us, but blissfully following our own muses.

Creative Origami - including the rhinoceros beetle!
Origami Boxes
Origami Omnibus
Unit Origami: Multidimensional Transformations
Essential Origami: How To Build Dozens of Models from Just 10 Easy Bases
The New Origami
Origami to Astonish and Amuse
I even came across...
Pornogami: A Guide to the Ancient Art of Paper-Folding for Adults