fold poems and quotes into origami and leave them on public transport

I’d intended to make more cranes, but it’s just not a priority right now. Making them was fun, but it was discouraging to see them get sat on or ignored. It’s possible I would have got a more positive reaction if I’d kept trying, but I’m laying this to rest for now.

Perhaps I’ll come back and have another go some other time.

Read this from the Washington Post. It makes me sad.

...has been better. In fact, I only have one crane left. I’d better make some more to send off.

I’ve noticed that people are very unobservent. Many of my cranes get sat on when left on bus seats.

The cranes have been all lined up waiting to go, but I always forget to pick them up before I walk out the door.

I remembered to take 6 & 7 yesterday though. I hope they are happy flying on their way.

The first crane I made went flying out into the world yesterday. Its quote seemed particularly apt, because a young man either sat on it or shoved it into his pocket without looking at it.

Perhaps the others will have better luck.

8. ...the unexamined life is not worth living, but consider too that the unlived life is not worth examining ~Julia Cameron

9. A mind too active is no mind at all ~Theodore Roethke
Nobody is perffect ~Tom Graves

10. One of my own poems:

Sometimes it feels as if
My soul is on vacation,
Leaving mind and body with
No address, destination,
And when I try to find it,
To my great consternation,
It will not be a part of such
A dull amalgamation.

I ended up making seven cranes yesterday with varying quotes. I used 8 or 13cm squares of white paper and wrote the quotes in coloured textas. Some were big enough for a couple of quotes, especially when I discovered the more writing you put on them the more interesting they look.

1. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again

2. We are all wanderers on this earth. Our hearts are full of wonder and our souls are deep with dreams ~Gypsy saying

3. There is more to life than increasing its speed ~Gandi

4. The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn the past, not to worry about the future, nor to anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly ~Buddha

5. When God made time, he made plenty of it ~Anon
A still mind is like a taste of freedom ~ Robert Hulford

6. If in our daily life we can smile, if we can be peaceful and happy, not only we, but everybody around us will profit from it. This is the most basic kind of peace work ~Thich Nhat Hanh
What we play is life ~ Louis Armstrong

7.Why should we all use our creative power…? Because there is nothing that makes people so generous, joyful, lively, bold and compassionate, so indifferent to fighting and the accumulation of objects and money ~ Barbara Ueland

I meant to leave a couple on the bus yesterday, but rush hour conspired against me since I didn’t want to look like I was littering.

But today 2 & 3 went flying off when I went shopping. I wonder whether the people will keep them and whether they’ll unravel them to see what’s written or keep them as cranes.

I think I’ll make 43 before I mark the goal off.

Right, I can definitely do this with the instructions in front of me. It’s doing it on my own that’s the trick. Perhaps it’s surrendering too much to my perfectionism to expect to do it on my own. At least not without some more practice.

But I should be getting some more practice pretty soon. I decided that for one of my other goals celebrate Feb 12, 43rd day of the year, I’d make 43 cranes with quotes on them. Perhaps I won’t get through 43, but at least it’s a good jump start for this goal.

I saw this goal on 43T and it really appealed to me. It sounds like so much fun… and really, not all that different from bookcrossing. So I thought I’d give it a go.

Step one: learn how to make origami. I thought I’d start with something simple, like paper cranes. I found a good website with fairly clear instructions and made a couple of good ones. I thought I had it down. But without the instructions in front of me I kept messing up. So it’s back to the website to learn properly