The Origami of Life in 5-Steps
How folding paper can make you more resilient.
Most of the time,
we don’t think of folding paper as a USEFUL thing to spend time on. But I want you to stop for a moment and think about it from this perspective.
Origami requires you to be fully present in the moment.
When folding paper into the intricate, or simple forms, you’ve got to be fully aware and 100% responsible for what you are doing.
Let your mind slip for a moment and your design falls apart or fails to spread its wings when completed.
From paper flowers and animals, to abstract forms, the requirements of origami are exactly those that build resilience in us as we practice them.
Being Resilient Allows Us To:
- Be flexible
- Recover quickly from adversity.
- See the whole as well as the parts.
- Be fully present to whatever shows up.
- Access our inner strengths.
- Be able to respond 100%, with considered action.
How do these relate to origami?
When you begin with an idea of making a new thing out of an old thing, you have no choice but to be flexible. You’ve had to already be able to imagine that a simple sheet of paper could become something 3-dimensional. Flexibility.
As you fold the paper, whether you are following instructions or your own playfulness, you may find at some point that a fold or crease isn’t quite right. You’ve got to unfold it, flatten the paper down and re-fold so that the paper forms your imagined shape. Adversity and The Whole.
The form in your hands grows and with it you can allow yourself to be aware of how present you are in the making, in the moment. With paper-folding, if you look away or stop paying attention, the shape goes awry. Presence.
The more you are required to pay attention, the more you bring your inner strengths into play. Precision, attention, patience, playfulness, and attitude you are bringing to the process is, by definition, one of your strengths. The more attention you pay to which strengths show up, the more you elevate those particular strengths. Strength.
You are always 100% response-able for whatever your life looks like. What this means is that no matter what happens, no matter what shape your origami, or your life takes, you are always completely and 100% response- able for what you are creating. Responsibility and Action.
If you find yourself immediately wanting to yell at me and argue this last point by saying, “But Amy…… I can’t be blamed for everything that has happened to me in my life!”
I invite you to take a deep breath and see that you are able to respond to everything. You breathe the air in response to needing oxygen. You eat in response to hunger and a need for energy. You experience certain emotions when you are around people you like or dislike, etc… In fact, when you truly look carefully, you’ll find that you can’t do anything that is not a response to something else.
Responding is not the same as taking action.
As a human you are able to respond to everything, in fact you can’t help but do so, but responding to something doesn’t mean you have to act, or DO something.
When you separate your response from the action you choose to take, that’s when things start to change dramatically.
By creating a small space, or a pause between your response to something and the action you choose next, you are building a new habit of awareness and responsibility (response-ability). You are more likely to take actions that help you to be resilient and more positive, when you take a moment to choose your next action.
By understanding on a fundamental level that everything you do is an action you have chosen… everything you are living now is because of a choice you made at one point or another in your past.
From this moment onward, you can choose to take actions that support who you are, what you want to create and how you want to feel.
The Five Steps to Build Resilience are:
- Pay attention to your present moment.
- Notice what shape is taking form in your hands.
- Allow yourself to be flexible.
- Ask yourself, “What is the next best action I can take to move towards my desired outcome?”
- Take that action, notice the effect.
Repeat the process as necessary.
Every time you practice the five steps you are increasing your habit of being resilient. The more you practice, the more resilient you become.
The more resilient you are, the more often you’ll find yourself not being tossed upon the ocean of life’s vicissitudes, and will feel calmer, more able to respond and take action in ways that consistently move you to achieve your goals.
I’m Amy Kosh, a healer, artist, personal-development coach. I write hoping to help people be happier, healthier, and more compassionate. If you want more or liked this, give a few claps, toss a comment in below and let me know what you think. Want more?
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