An Upside Down World and Paper Cranes (10/24/24)

 

My mornings are often very much the same:

1. Wake up
2. Workout
3. Shower
4. Coffee
5. Wordle
6. Quordle
7. Connections
8. Email
9. News
10. Instantly tailspin into the overwhelming sense that the world is falling apart…more specifically, an instant tailspin into intense fear of our political situation and what will happen 2 weeks from today (today being Thursday, October 24, 2024 and 2 weeks from the 2024 election).
11. Fold a paper crane

This is not a post about politics, and having a political argument is not my goal in writing it. 

I am simply expressing the fear and dread I feel most mornings after reading the (not fake…very real) news.

This blog post is about the intersection of that fear and the Japanese art of paper folding.

(Although, for the record: I am voting for Kamala Harris and am very concerned at the prospect of another Trump presidency.)

I don’t know when I first learned how to fold a paper crane.  

I know I had an origami book when I was young.  I’m assuming the directions for folding paper cranes were included, but mostly what I remember from that specific book is picking up the brightly colored square sheets of paper that came with (and constantly fell out of) it.  The fact that the sheets I picked up were mostly UNfolded leaves me to believe I didn’t create a whole lot.

At some point in my early 20s I was involved in a project that required folding a bunch of paper cranes. I’m guessing “a bunch” was 1,000, based on the popularity of the book “Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes.”  The book is about a young girl named Sadaka, who was diagnosed with leukemia after the bombing of Hiroshima.  Inspired by a Japanese legend saying that anyone who folds 1,000 cranes will be granted a wish, she sets out to fold the cranes and wish for health.  Aside from thinking my personal folding experience had to do with this book, I actually don’t remember where I was or why I was a part of a crane folding crew. I do know, however, that I was with a bunch of other people and we were all sitting at table folding away – crane after crane after crane after crane after crane.  Although it was just an afternoon, I remember feeling very connected with those people and very much a part of something.

20 something years later, “connected” and  “part of something” is not how the morning news has made me feel for quite some time.  Staying informed is important, but gosh it’s hard. One day, a few years ago, as I was stewing on whatever I had just read or heard, I pulled out a piece scratch paper and inexplicably started to fold a paper crane.

It had been quite a few years since I had felt the purpose and unity of sitting with a group of people folding paper cranes, but the muscle memory was strong (I mean, we had folded A LOT of cranes that afternoon). I had to do a little bit of internet research as the crane took shape, but before I knew it I was staring at a completely passable (slightly lopsided)  paper crane.  The politics and fears hadn’t gone away, but I felt strangely better.  It seems I just needed a little, inconsequential task to take my mind off of the mountainous problems in the world before conquering the hills in my own life .  My little creation done, I flew it into the recycling bin and moved through the rest of the day with a slightly less negative attitude.

Over time, the news has been consistently concerning and the folding has continued.  Sometimes it’s news of school shootings, sometimes its countries being invaded, sometimes it’s political discord, but folding a single crane and then letting it go always helps just a little bit. Sometimes I write a fear on the paper before I fold it, and sometimes I write a wish. I’ve gotten better at folding over time, but no matter how much practice I have or how careful I am, there is always a flaw somewhere.  There is always room for crisper folds or a more perfectly shaped beak.  There is always reason to try again tomorrow.

A quick google search shows that culturally paper cranes can have a lot of different meanings: hope and healing, good fortune and longevity, wish fulfillment, strength, resilience, peace, community, balance and harmony, mindfulness.  While “overpowering intense dread of political turmoil so you can live your *&$#ing life” is not explicitly included in that list, I can attest to the power of paper cranes to do that as well.