Journey to 1000 Paper Cranes

It has been awhile since I've posted.  Life has been full of twists and turns and my paper cranes took a back seat for awhile.  They've been waiting for me patiently as I walk by them daily both at work and at home.  I had to start carving out time for some other creativity and re-prioritize some things.  Last night I sat down and strung & beaded five paper crane ornaments for some cousins of mine who are expecting so baby got a crane as well.  I've been preparing for the Chinese New Year, which I love.  It wasn't always something my family recognized but I found it very special when we did. As I've grown older this lunar new year became more and more important for me to recognize.  Some years it has been sending out the yearly update letter about our goings on, some years it has been to go to Eugene's Asian Celebration, eating out with friends, getting dressed up, and some years it has just been for me to offer good tidings to others.  This y...

  My favorite pandemic birthday wish I like to send to a few of my favorites Day 33:  I never imagined that Friday in November that I would be this close to being done with folding 1000 paper cranes.  One thought was maybe I could be done by my birthday, January 12th.  I'll be done within the week, unless something major throws that off.  So excited to start the next part which will be stringing them with blue beads.  It was a long day at work, not a bad day just a long day and I had a couple errands after work so wasn't home until almost 7:30pm.  So appreciated my friend Kendra checking in on me, making sure I was doing okay regarding the grief of losing our dog Ming.  Several clients have been asking as well.  When I got home I had quite a bit of pain in my upper back, neck, shoulders, and that darn wrist so I decided an Epsom salt bath was overdue.  Felt really really good.  On this day I had folded some paper cranes in the early...

Day 21:  We woke up at 6:30am, our first day without Ming.   On this morning I was going through a box of dog toys/supplies and found his baby collar.  This was a comfort and I am saving it because a bought a black stuffed dog that should arrive today that will get to wear this.  A quiet morning but sweet time with the other three boys.  I got chores done and asked Jeremy when we should start making our Thanksgiving meal.  He was open to anything.  After about an hour he asked if I had decided, I looked over and said - well I'm hungry now.  So off I went to start cooking probably a little past 9:30am.  We were eating by 11:00am and boy was it tasty!  The rest of the day was folding cranes, doing my new stickers by numbers workbook, playing with the dogs, playing games, checking in with family and a couple of friends, and watching shows.  Night time was hard, right before Ming's bed time routine the tears just started flowing....

Day 12:  This was a long day at work with clients starting at 9:30am and going until 7:00pm.  My lunch break was my own counseling appointment while eating lunch.  Was very grateful for that because he provides me consultation to brainstorm when I have questions about clients and what might be best for them.  He gave me a lot to ponder.  I got home pretty tired, well I started out pretty tired.  One of our dogs has really been struggling with sleep lately often waking up once or twice in the night barking.  We've started a new medication for him to address pain and I made another call to see what might help get him to sleep through the night.  He's already taking an anxiety medication.  I contemplated not folding any cranes but then thought, why not just one?  And so the lone ranger was folded and I felt really good about that.  I'm glad I thought to take care of me.  Today I had a little fun taking a photo of a photo I've take...

Day 10:  I spent part of my morning cleaning the bathroom and the sink has a drain with no cover (well it does now).  This means occasionally something falls down the drain, usually my vitamins for the day.  However a week ago the cover to my toothbrush took a dive.  So I get under the sink and unhook a couple of the pipes.  What do I find?  Well about 4 years-ish ago I lost a Fitbit watch.  What do you know, it is there with metal band along with the toothbrush cover and a hair elastic.  The sink is now draining with gusto!  Random story I know and has nothing to do with paper cranes.  What I'm appreciating about this 1000 paper crane making process is my attention to the present moment, the sharing of gratitude and the being open to be curious about the what this might mean as I continue to fold these cranes (I'm still curious what wish the gods will grant me).  One of my friends from high school asked what I would be doing with t...

Day 8:  This day was fun because I posted the previous day's question of how many minutes does it take me to fold 10 paper cranes?  Answers varied from 6 minutes to 3 days.  It took me 15 minutes.  I'll probably do this again towards the end of this project to see if I get any faster.  Although I'm not always racing to fold, it can me nice to take the time to make the folds just so and to line everything up.  Both people who guessed the correct time were offered paper cranes and one of them has a baby, so I am sending her a mama and baby crane duo.  Friday the 13th was a rainy and particularly windy day.  So many leaves blowing about and by the time I was driving home it was 45 F degrees out.  Very grateful to be entering the weekend after my seven day work stretch last week this week felt like a lot of catching up.  Clients varied in how they were doing but I've noticed an added heaviness as the holidays enter and people reflects on tho...

Day 3:  My final day of training is happening on this day.  I'm excited because I have the next two days off since I worked the entire weekend.  Really enjoyed getting to know my fellow therapists and my group leader.  At the end of class we each got to share what we took away from this weekend as well as what we'd like to leave behind.  What hit home for me is that all of these folks dedicated time and money towards this new therapy approach (EMDR) that is well known for helping people heal from trauma.  Knowing we are just a small portions of the many who already know this approach and the fact that we all are in the world aiming to support those suffering from the deep pains of their lives really stuck out in my mind.  This was quite comforting to think about, in contrast to the chaos that is this year including the COVID-19 pandemic, riots over police brutality, fires spreading through too much of our land, and a presidential election that mattered...