Okay, so some of you might remember my previous life update where I berated the trials and tribulations of origami, the art of paper folding. (I was trying to pick up a new hobby.)
You can verify my annoyance by checking out that life update right here. A brief summary in case you’re too lazy to click on the link (which I totally understand) is that I was not pleased with origami. The instructions were obtuse, the folding paper unmanageable, and my fingers clumsy.
I thought I was going to give up origami as a lost cause.
I have to eat those words now.
Recently, during my free time, I’ve been fiddling with those square bits of paper, and call me a flubbing chicken-head if I’m not starting to enjoy it.
I’ll finish whatever work I have to do, put Star Trek: The Next Generation on the television, and I’ll fold up little chairs and tables, boxes and balloons.
I’m about to leave those kinds of folds behind and start practicing vehicles, like boats and planes. Then I’ll move on to animals. I’m really excited for that.
I am pleasantly bemused by this change in the status quo.
Origami initially irritated me. Messing up a single fold caused the creation to look sloppy, and I hated to look at my childlike fuck-ups. Nothing makes you feel so uncoordinated as failing to do origami properly.
But it’s like my brain did a total one-eighty. After that one day of idly picking up a square sheet and trying a few folds, I began enjoying the process.
If you take your time and don’t sweat your mistakes, origami can be really relaxing. And the more relaxed you are, the fewer mistakes you make. The instructions make sense if you spend a few moments studying the final diagram. The instructions end up feeling incredibly intuitive. Plus, it tickles my fancy when that light bulb in my head flicks on and I suddenly know what I have to do to turn that flat piece of paper into a three-dimensional shape.
I suppose there’s a lesson somewhere in all this. Something about giving things a second chance. Or maybe it has to do with perseverance.
Whatever. I don’t have time for the moral of this story.
I need to go to the store to buy some more folding paper.
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