A Thousand Paper Cranes

A friend of mine, an avid fan of Japanese culture, told me about the Expo, and we met there. The expo showcased many different aspects of Japanese culture; the wearing of kimonos, calligraphy, among other things. One thing that really caught my attention was Origami, or the art of folding paper.

I already know one thing to make during that time, the traditional Tsuru or the crane. When I saw the small table where they were doing their Origami, they were doing the crane too, and a box, out of all things. Mostly simple origami, but still a beautiful art.

After seeing them, I bought sheets of origami paper. I didn't start then and there, but about a week after the expo. I had looked up videos on youtube on how to make some simple designs. The two most prominent Origami folders were Jo Nakashima and Tadashi Mori. Shout out to those two for sharing their expertise to the less inclined, I had learned much from both of them.

As a relatively beginner, I only looked on videos that usually did not last more than ten minutes. There was a tutorial about making an Origami dragon that piqued my interest, but the video last almost forty minutes. There was this one video that only lasted up to eight minutes, but it took me almost an hour to assemble. Needless to say, I forewent learning the dragon and opted to go for simpler designs.

As I mentioned earlier, there's a design that I took almost an hour to make, and that was the Magic Rose Cube. The magic rose cube tutorial video (which you can see here) is short, but you see in the video that you actually require three of each piece that he shows you how to make. Although it took me a while to finish, the end product was beautiful. 

Then I continued on to more designs, with a Peace Dove, a Neko Cat,  and a Zerg Hydralisk, which I thought was pretty cool. Considering that the Hydralisk was created from a Tsuru. Whoever created the design was a very creative individual.

Kotobukizuru

Origami has been a long tradition in many other countries, but as we know Japan is the most popular one. Origami stems from the two words "ori" which means folding and "kami" which means paper. And it dates long enough that no one actually knows when it really started.

As I mentioned earlier, I had only known how to make the Tsuru, or the crane. It is one of the most popular designs in Origami, so much so that there's a legend behind making the paper crane. It is said that if one successfully makes a thousand paper cranes, he is granted one wish by a crane, one of the mystical or holy creatures in Japan. And it is said that the crane can live for up to a thousand years. Or so it says.

Traditional Tsuru

There is a story in Japan of a girl named Sadako Sasaki (not related to the ghost in The Ring) who was very sick. She was dying, in fact. Stricken with leukemia, the girl had only one wish: to live. And so she started folding paper cranes in hopes of completing a thousand and being granted a wish. But, Sadako, weak from her disease, was unable to continue. She was only able to make 644 paper cranes before passing away. Friends and family continued on and buried the thousand paper cranes with her.

This story touched me in a way that I want to make a thousand paper cranes, in honor of Sadako. From then on, I started making more paper cranes and littered my room with them. I'm far from a thousand, but I'm gearing towards there.

Hopefully, I'll be able to get that wish.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Paper Lily

This is our cry. This is our prayer. Peace on Earth.
 これはぼくらの叫びです　これは私たちの祈りです　世界に平和をきずくための


Sadako Sasaki, Rest in Peace.

Peacock

Peace Dove

Neko Cat

Zerg Hydralisk

Swan

The Dreamer

Inception had been my favorite movie since it was released. Being the first movie I've seen on the IMAX theater(that big ass screen), it certainly was memorable. The movie's plot, being about dreams and manipulating them, piqued my interest even more. It was also directed by one of the most critically-acclaimed directors out there, Christopher Nolan.

The movie, centric on dreams, was one of the more original movies I've seen, ever. I've seen it on IMAX, as well as in the normal theater, and 4 or 5 times again at home. Every after I watched it, I had always wanted to dream the way they did. Although such machine is unavailable (or that I know of), lucid dreaming is very much possible.

I've seen many an article about lucid reaming and it's a very difficult process. But really the main thing about it is you have to practice real hard on your memory. You have to keep a dream journal right next to your bed, so when you do wake up right after a dream, you immediately write everything you remember.

My friends are naturals at this. They are more adept at remembering the dream, close to every detail. Unlucky for me, I am not the same. Granted, there are certain dreams that I do remember. But I don't remember every  little thing in the dream, I remember only bits and pieces.

I had this friend who told me about his dream. The first thing he remembers about the dream was that he was at his high school, only every friend he ever had was there too. Then somehow the dream drifted off into a beach setting, and he was bringing a car, my car. And I remember him telling me that he was pulling it with a string through the sands, like a toddler pulling a toy car. Then at some point, he had realized that he was dreaming. A few moments after that, he woke up.

That's how lucid dreaming is, you become aware that you're actually in a dream. And that's what I want to accomplish. I've had this experience only once, and it was just like my friend's. A few moments after I noticed myself dreaming, I had woken up.

When and if you become more adept to lucid dreaming, you can begin to manipulate the things around you. As in The Architect in the movie. I only had this experience, but it felt weird. Whenever I wanted to control something, it resisted. It could be that, or that was just really the dream.

For the past week, I had started writing down my dreams. Only not really writing them, I would text them to myself and save it in a dreams folder. It started when I woke up in the middle of the night, and from that point on, I remember my dreams most of the whole week.

The texts I save sound really cryptic when I read them. I really don't know why I dream about it. That's one thing I love about dreaming, the randomness of it all. You could be anything or anyone, at anywhere or everywhere.

The first dream I had involved a mutual friend dying, my car being in an accident, a friend telling me I was like his ex, and something about facebook. I don't really remember why, but somehow my car was a Mazda. That's the only thing I remember clearly. I'm not even sure if it was my car that was in the accident.

Second day, I only remember a question. I'm not even sure if I was the one was asked the question or that if it was a girl I was interested in. She/I asked if I/she use her/my terms when I/she went on our own dates. And the reply was a quick no. The third day, I remember someone telling me, that she sings a better song on a piano.

The fourth day was especially nice dream, or so from what I remember. I was stranded in a room with a girl. We were in two different double deck beds, and the room was flooded. It looked like a classroom. In the flooded room, there were these notes floating around. They felt like messages in a bottle, without the bottle. The dream itself as I remember was nice, other than the fact I remember something about someone dying. And as I texted it to myself, I spelled it as Justin Thoureaux. I got curious if someone is named that, then turns out there is a Justin Theroux who played Leezar in Your Highness, a movie that I saw the day before.

The rest of the week was really nothing at all. I saw an old friend, a bitchy friend was being friendly. Things do really feel strange when we're in a dream, but you won't know that until you wake up.

I read an article once that when you dream at night, your brain is actually "organizing" your day. So there may be subtle signs in there about your day or whatever it is that's bothering you or making you happy. And when things get too emotional, you respond, like really crying.

So, what is it that my mind is telling me?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Never recreate places from your memories, always imagine new places. Only use details. A street lamp or a phone booth. Never entire areas. Building a dream from your memory is the easiest way of losing your grasp on what's real and what is a dream.