Why I make Origami Cranes

Sometime late in 2000 or early 2001, someone shared with me the story of Sadako, and the 1000 Cranes. I had not heard of Sadako before this, or the legend of folding 1000 cranes. Sadako was a two year-old at the time that the bombs were dropped on Hiroshima. Ten years later she became ill with leukemia. She had heard from a friend, that if you fold 1000 cranes you could ask the gods to grant you a wish. She decided she would fold 1000 cranes, and wish to be well.

In less than a months time she folded 1000 cranes, and continued to fold, sharing the cranes with others at the hospital who were also sick from the atomic radiation from the bombs. Within a few weeks, she had died.

But, unlike most twelve year-old girls, Sadako lived on in people's memories. Her spirit touched so many people's hearts in such a profound way that her story lives on. There is a memorial built in her honor, for all children affected by atomic war. It is a wish for peace. The statue is of Sadako, holding a crane in her hand. Each year people will fold 1000 cranes and send them to the memorial. Mounds of cranes are displayed in glass cases around the statue. A reminder of her story, and a wish for peace.

When the friend shared this story with me, and that folding 1000 cranes is often done as an act of healing, I began to fold cranes. I was recovering from depression at the time, brought about after the sudden death of my dad. I could do something I loved, and perhaps find some healing.

At the time, I would fold the cranes from all sorts of origami paper. I loved the beautiful handmade papers. With in a few months, September 11th occurred, and I was folding as a wish for peace, with renewed intensity.

I probably folded about 400 to 500 cranes, and continued to fold them sporadically. I began to think I might never make it to 1000 cranes, and if I did, what in the world was I going to do with all those cranes?

When I began to fold those cranes, I had no idea where this journey would take me. I thought of it as something personal. An act done to heal myself.

But, fast forward to 2003, and I found myself offering to help a friend out with a craft day at church. It would be a day when adults could come for a few hours, and try out a variety of craft activities. She had most everyone she needed lined up already, but, she told me, she needed someone for polymer clay. I hesitated. I knew lots of crafts well, but I had only played around with polymer clay a few times.

I found myself agreeing to help, nonetheless. I bought a big box of a variety of colors of clay, and sat down to figure out a few simple projects. That afternoon was the beginning of a new direction in my life. That afternoon, I got hooked on polymer clay, and have not looked back since. The craft day was actually cancelled, but I had found the medium that has since become the focus of my life, and my business.

Within a few weeks of playing around and exploring the possibilities of this medium, I found myself wondering if I could fold a crane from clay. I could roll out a thin sheet with a pasta machine, and I could use a bit of cornstarch to keep it from sticking. Hmmmmm.... Well, a persistent nature, and a deep understanding of how to fold the crane helped me find the way. I could do it. And the more I did it the better I got at it.

I went on-line to see who else might also be folding cranes. All I found was that it could not be done. Good thing I checked after the fact instead of before! I always look at this as an important life lesson. Sometimes it is better to try things on your own before you check to see if it can be done...within limits of course!

Today, I have folding thousands of cranes out of polymer clay, and thousands of cranes out of paper. I am working on a major project, creating cranes to memorialize the losses of the Iraq war. Cranes are a part of my life nearly every day.

And, along the way, between that first crane I folded from polymer clay, to today, I have heard so many stories about people's connections with the cranes. This lens is created to share some of those stories with you, and help you understand why cranes are so powerful, and important to me.

A few years after I began making cranes, I was contacted by a family in the Midwest who saw my cranes on my website. They wanted to know if I could customize some cranes. Could I make a dozen cranes that said "Bobby" on one wing, and "Believe" on the other. I agreed to take on the project, and began to make the cranes, in a variety of bright colors, as they had requested.

After I was done, I contacted the family again, to see where they should be sent. They gave me the address, and they added the story behind the request.

Bobby was the nephew of the person who asked for the cranes. He had been a Marine, and had gone to Iraq to serve. He had loved origami his whole life, and would fold cranes and hand them out to the kids in Iraq. After he had been there a few short months, he was killed. His family remembers him and his spirit with the crane, and it is also a symbol of peace for them. Bobby left behind a pregnant fiance. He has a daughter he never met.

This was the first story I heard, and it touched my heart. You can not imagine the weight of responsibility I felt at that moment, to learn that something I made with my hands would represent the life and spirit of another person. It was at that moment, that I took those cranes seriously. I began to realize that they were more than something cool or something pretty. I decided I better make more cranes, and get them out into the world. Along the way, many other stories have come my way. I will share some of those here.

I have come to believe in synchronicity. The idea that the right opportunities will cross our path, and we will find ourselves in the right place at the right time when we are open to the possibilities. I think this story has elements of synchronicity, but they have a sadder outcome than I usually come to think of with this phenomenon.

I wanted to thank a blogger for all the times she had linked to my website, and my blog. She had done a lot to help drive traffic to both, and I was very appreciative. I had been thinking about sending her a crane, but I didn't have her address. I finally sent off an e-mail, asking her for her address, so that I could send her a crane.

She wrote back that it was not necessary for me to do this, but she would love the crane. She had just come back from the funeral for the infant son of a friend. The baby was just weeks old, and had been murdered. The crane would be a way for her to honor the spirit of this life cut short so prematurely. It would help her process her grief.

I was floored. I could not believe either my timing, or the importance that was again being laid on the shoulders of this small item. I sent off the crane, with my condolences, and again saw the cranes as something that I had to take seriously.

Cranes are said to be symbols of fidelity. This arises from the fact that they are said to live for 1000 years, and mate with just one partner. As a result, I have had many people buy cranes as a way to celebrate or honor a wedding, engagement or anniversary. One of the first of these stories was one that I still love to share.

Two sisters came into my booth at a craft show I was doing one July day. They saw the cranes and we began to talk about them, and all the good things they symbolize. When I mentioned that they were symbols of fidelity, a light bulb went off. They looked at one another with a sense of recognition, and told me I had solved their problem.

Their parents were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. They did not want any gifts, but the daughters were taking them out to dinner. They wanted to get them some little thing to celebrate such a momentous occasion. The cranes were perfect. And as luck would have it, I had a pair of gold toned cranes. They began plotting on the spot. They would go to the restaurant ahead of time, and have the staff place a crane at each of their parents' places at the table.

The next summer, I was at the same show, and I saw the daughters again. The parents loved their cranes, and had inquired, "Do they have these for everyone at their anniversary?" I wish I could have been there to share in the moment.

Kimberly is one of my heroes. Kimberly turned forty in February 2008. In spite of doctor's predictions. I first met Kimberly, in 2007, at a day long retreat focused on personal growth and healing. At the time, she was not expected to live another year. Yet, here she was, spending a day, reflecting, examining, and opening her heart to the possible. Now you might expect given the circumstances that she might have spent that time in agonizing about how unfair it was, and why was this happening to her, and she had so many things she still wanted to do.

Kimberly was there to live her life, long or short, in the fullest way possible. This year when I went to the retreat again, there was Kimberly. I can't tell you how it made my heart lift to see her. Her hair was thin, and her face puffy from the ravages of the medications she has been taking. But her spirit was clearly alive. Her smile lit up her face, and her voice was one of hope and optimism.

We got to talking over lunch, and at one point we began talking about the cranes. I shared a few of the stories I have heard over the years from people about their connections with the cranes. This was when Kimberly exclaimed that I may have just solved her problem. She was planning a birthday party, for herself, in Key West, Florida the following month. She and a dozen of her friends would be meeting up to celebrate her life, and the fact that she was still here to celebrate this birthday. She wanted to give a gift to each of her friends. Something that they would have, long after she was gone, that could help them remember her, and what her life was about. The cranes were the answer.

I made a dozen cranes for Kimberly, with the date of her 40th birthday under the wings. They are small enough so someone can hold it in their hands, and remember Kimberly....and just how cute, and wonderful, and spiritual she is,....

Through the cranes, I was invited into Kimberly's life, and to share a small part of it with her. After Kimberly gave her friends the cranes, and shared with them about the symbolism of the cranes, and why she chose to give them as gifts, her friends were inspired. They conspired to fold 1000 cranes for Kimberly. Over a few short months, they folded the cranes, and then strung them up, and brought them to surprise Kimberly.

I found out about them when she invited me to her house for lunch. The real reason was to show me the cranes! They were wonderful. And they inspired Kimberly to start folding cranes for the Crane Project. You can't tell me that cranes are not magical and powerful!

This is a story shared with me by the owner of a shop that sold my cranes. For her granddaughter's first birthday, her daughter had folded enough cranes so that there would be at least one for each guest at the party she planned. She then went out and got a helium balloon for each crane. The cranes were attached to the strings on the balloons, and then allowed to float through the house. They floated gently around the house, moved by the air currents created by people's movements around the house. And as each guest left the party, they were given one of the cranes on a balloon to take home with them.

Why would she do this for her daughter's party? Cranes are symbols of long life, since according to the legend, they would live for 1000 years. The cranes were a wish for a long life for her young daughter.

And it does sound beautiful, doesn't it?

I have often given cranes to people as a way to say thank you to someone. When I heard this story, I thought it was a very big thank you. This story came from another store owner. A customer had bought a crane to bring with her when she traveled to China to adopt a baby girl. She was planning on giving the crane as a thank you gift to the little girl's foster mother. I was touched by this heartfelt gesture.

While it is sad to know that there are so many cranes that have been meant to be memorials to someone's life, it is also good to know that something I make might help someone hold onto their memories and come to terms with their loss.
This story came from another craft show I was doing. A woman came into my booth, and began looking at the cranes almost immediately, clearly trying to pick one out. This was somewhat unusual. Often before reaching that point, people will engage in a conversation with me about the cranes. We will talk about the cranes, how they are made, and what they represent. None of that was happening.

When she came over to me to pay for the cranes she had selected, I asked her if she had a special connection to the cranes. She shared with me that she had recently lost a nephew to suicide. He was a teenager. His friends had folded 1000 cranes and had them hanging at the memorial service for him. She was buying these cranes for his brother and sister, so they could have something to remind them of their big brother.

I can't tell you how honored I am that people share their stories with me. I can tell you that I have come to learn that the crane is a powerful symbol for many people. It seems to give people strength. I know the act of folding cranes can be very soothing by it's meditative nature. The first dozen cranes may not feel that way. But once the folds are learned a rhythm develops. A rhythm that is easy and comforting. And after going through the folds, a crane emerges. Each one a small miracle.

After being touched by so many amazing stories, I found myself facing a big story, that needed to be told. the story of the human cost of the Iraq war. Each soldier, each citizen*, each journalist who has died in this war will be represented by a crane. I have begun folding, and others have joined in to help the effort. If you are so inspired, your help would be greatly appreciated.



*according to the Iraq Body Count estimate (very conservative)