Are you ready to switch off your screens and ponder or discuss another writing/conversation prompt during dinner tonight? You want to know about my thoughts on it? Here’s my take:
I love paper. Funny enough, it took me a long time to become aware of this fact. I used to work with paper suppliers for the office, stationery, art, and crafts industry. As a journalist, I often received samples of paper because experiencing a material makes it more authentic when you are to write about it. No, paper is definitely NOT just paper. It comes in different sizes in different countries. Some is rough, some is smooth. It comes in different weights, which means the density of the paper differs while the size stays the same. It is made from different materials and for different purposes.
Origami – I know this is owls to Athens, for you – is the Japanese art of folding paper. And as with every art, there are specific art supplies. In this case, there are different kinds of Origami papers for different folding purposes. Some are printed with a pattern on one side, others specialize on being either sturdy or soft. They usually come in squares.
In Japan, a crane stands for longevity and good fortune. Cranes are even considered holy. Fold a thousand paper cranes and make a wish – that’s another Japanese tradition. Or you simply use them as a gift or for decoration.
I have to admit that I have never been really keen on creating Origami myself. I simply cannot remember the different steps to achieve something other than a hat, a ship, a plane, or fortune tellers. Easy and, after a while, pretty boring. Of course, I could simply place an instruction next to my project and follow it step by step – but paper folding projects have never had that much meaning to me. Is it because you can’t use the result for anything? Or the paper, once folded, is creased and not good for any other use later on?
So, no, I don’t fold paper cranes from birthday wrapping paper. Nor, as a matter of fact, do I fold anything else from it. Back in my childhood and youth, wrapping paper was saved (some even got ironed) for reuse. These days, wrapping papers are most often thin and rip easily. Even my most honest attempt at folding any into a crane would probably end up with a tear in a place that would ruin the entire piece. Origami is simply not for me. But the papers … that’s a different story.
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