Fold 1 000 origami cranes

I just finished this evening! My God it was arduous. Mostly because I didn’t use origami paper, so I had to make the squares myself out of printer paper or notebook paper. My suggestion: use paper that is already a perfect square. Also, use paper that is relatively thin and easy to fold (not like printer paper, which was fine but hurt my fingers after a while). I’m the kind of person who is always fidgeting and folding origami anyway, so I thought I’d challenge and see if I could make 1,000 cranes by a specific date. I did it for a friend’s birthday present, so I hope she likes it!

Growing up, it was my white mother who taught me about my Japanese side (not my Japanese father, who was too busy). I grew up teaching peers how to fold cranes. It wasn’t until college when I became severely ill that I decided to fold 1,000 cranes. I made them so beautiful, with colored beads between each crane. I had 100 chains of 10 cranes each, some hung as long as 5 feet with all the beads. Since then I have helped fold 1,000 for a friend who was in the hospital with a 50/50 chance of living (he’s fine now), folded 1,000 with friends for a friend who was diagnosed with leukemia (she has since passed away but the cranes hung at her funeral and her boyfriend has them to this day as a positive memory of all the support surrounding him), folded 1,000 for my grandma (with the involvement of my entire family and family friends) when she was ill.
I’ve gained the reputation of being “the crane girl”. Now I want to do my thesis on it, how it is healing. If anyone has any books or suggestions for me please let me know.

Thanks, keep folding!
Crane Girl

It took a year or so, folding during boring meetings when I should’ve been paying attention, but they’re all folded and waiting to be hung up.

9980 to go!

Sheesh, what have I gotten myself into.

Still, I can see how this is like prayer beads or mandala painting.
It focuses your thoughts and intentions towards a goal, you sort things out in the quite of your mind while your hands are busy…

Dreams and wishes can’t help but come true when you’ve spent this much time in quiet contemplation of a goal!

I have been thinking about folding 1000 cranes. My life is not where I want it to be and I have been struggling to pull things together and make progress on goals. My hope is that by folding 1000 cranes, I will have time to think and “meditate” to help me get focused. I am going to buy the paper tonight and get started. I hope to be done by New Years but that is a LOT to fold in a short time.

A bag o’ 50.

These aren’t counting as part of the 1G, since they are going to stay on my desk, but they were my first ones. People from the office like to handle them and the cleaning service always knocks one or two off (why?), so that can get annoying (don’t touch my stuff, man). But I like them! The paper is that vaguely velvety kind. I got another pack of this blue pattern for my 1G.

all folded by me and now hung up in strands! Yay! Can’t wait for my wish to come true.

and still folding… getting closer

another 1000 origami cranes. Time for another wish. ; )

I started folding about 2 weeks ago, and already have 600 cranes folded. Moving along nicely. I’m going to string all of these in strands that I can hang out on my porch.