Thinking out of the origami box

Sometime in 2002, the shock of the terrorists attacks in New York still fresh in everybody’s mind, I got into Zen, haiku and a little bit of Ikebana, all at the same time. I admit I really didn’t understand them but I was into them anyway. Little did I know that origami would soon join the ensemble.

One time while browsing in a bookstore, I came across a cute red box called Quick and Easy Origami by Tomoko Fuse. The box contained square colored papers and a book with a step-by-step guide to folding those papers, which can then be joined together to make a box. What really caught my eye was the patterns (windmill, lightning, etc. ) created, when you combine different colors of papers and by the different ways one can join those folded papers together. I wasn’t hooked right away though. I’ve browsed it several times more after that, just admiring the colorful patterns and shapes (square, triangle and hexagon).

Then one time I mentally folded the paper in my mind, following the guide. I thought, that wasn’t so hard. I kept repeating the procedure in my mind, tracing the steps one after another until it registered in my brain permanently. When I tried it at home, to my disappointment, I couldn’t do it right. What went wrong? I retraced it step by step in my mind but still couldn’t figure it out. So I went back and found just one tiny fold that I did wrong. Anyway, I hurriedly went out and started folding my papers and assembling all four of them and what do you know? I got it! I had made the top cover of the box, which from the top looks like four triangles (yellow and purple) arranged alternately to form a perfect square. So LA Lakers.

Iwent back to the book and memorized how to do the bottom part of the box. It was only half as hard as the top cover, and this time, I got it on the first try. There I was with my origami box, pleased with myself and beaming with stupid pride and smiling like a kid.

I continue to practice my new craft, honing my skills all the time and everywhere. On the bus, at the mall, even in a movie house. I stocked up on my paper, meticulously cutting them into perfect squares. Different shades of color (flat, glossy, metallic). Different patterns (stripes, flowers, checkered, psychedelic, marbleized). After trying all sorts of combinations with the square box, I next tried doing the triangle box. It went so well and I realized I’ve gotten much better at it. My brain has adapted well to the task. I also discovered other books by Tomoko Fuse like Origami Boxes and Fabulous Origami Boxes.

In my mind’s projection screen, I was somewhere in the mountains, lying prostrate before a little old Japanese lady, begging her to accept me as her student even though I knew I didn’t deserve it. And that out of exasperation and the kindness of her heart she finally acceded. There I was, garbed in some Japanese attire looking like a samurai anime. I was a diligent student. I adhered to her strict discipline. She taught me the rituals of handling a paper and the proper way of folding it. I spent days getting into the groove. My senses were heightened. How light the paper was in my hands. The surface was as smooth as porcelain as I brushed it against my cheek. I inhaled the scent of pulp as if smelling the bare neck of a beautiful maiden. Sometimes, she’d reprimand me for not folding straight enough. Then out of the blue, without my asking for it, she’d reveal with her smiling chinky eyes one of her secrets: the angles. You have to find out yourself but here’s a hint – 9, 12 and 3 o’clock and the in-betweens, which determine whether your origami boxes will be a pentagon, a hexagon, a heptagon or an octagon.

Armed with such knowledge, I was sent back to the real world to test my skill. Tomoko would’ve been proud. I was able to produce patterns that weren’t even in the book. I know each fold like the back of my hand. And it’s all in my head, no sketch whatsoever. I even made variations of my own, based on her boxes. I also flirted with other forms of origami but it’s basically the Tomoko box for me. I would display them like trophies on my shelf. I have two big boxes full of different kinds of origami boxes, folded from huge white paper boards. Some boxes were filled with dried white bougainvillea flowers or a haiku. One haiku read: palpitation of pulp / igniting the fusel / folding from memory.

After the NY attacks, I started to live life for the moment. In Ikebana, I saw that less is more and simplicity is profound. I learned to capture the richness of the moment from haiku. Zen taught me to allow life to unfold, while with origami I realized that I must also allow life to fold itself to its preferred shape. It’s been more than a year since I caressed a delicate piece of square paper in my hands and folded it into submission. Last Sunday, I saw another book by Tomoko Fuse: Kusudama Origami.

Hmmm, looks interesting…