from these hands...: Cranes 1 to 1000

1 crane

I find that nature brings such incredible inspiration to me...and usually on my morning (meditation) walks.

I use these walks to get out of my own head and listen and look at the beauty around me...and sometimes post of my fb page of my sightings...sometimes it is such a brief moment that all I can do is enjoy it...live it...in that moment.

This past week I posted photos of a stick that was center in my path. I thought it looked like a crane...

inspiration for dolls with bird totem symbolism that I will be creating for a show at the Art Gym in July-Aug...then onto NIADA Conference.

"There is a Japanese idiom that says, “tsuru no hito koe“, 鶴の一声 or つるのひとこえ, which literally translates as, “one word from the crane’, meaning the “voice of authority”, the one who has the final word that isn’t challenged.

That is how high the crane is regarded, no one questions his opinions."

the crane stick

the first morning it was a crane "standing" nobly in my path...

the next morning walk...the crane was with mouth open speaking or singing...or giving his opinion...

this past morning the crane was "flying"...

By day three, I thought "ok...got the message...I will create you...

you must have a voice

you must fly!"

The crane is the symbol of longevity and good luck because it was thought to have a life span of a thousand years. Tsuru are also monogamous, therefore, often used for wedding decor."

I will definitely be creating a crane in my series of dolls!!

The crane has traits of peace, nobility, loyalty, and truth, as well as longevity.
stay tuned for the upcoming postings of my work in progress...

1000 paper cranes

note: I have fortunate to have been to her shrine in Horshima...

Sadako Sasaki also became famous for her own attempt to fold 1,000 cranes in the 1950s. When Sadako was only two years old, she was exposed to radiation from the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, in Japan. As she grew up, she developed leukemia. Suffering from the deadly disease, she learned the ancient tradition about the 1,000 paper cranes. Inspired to follow the legend, Sadako folded paper cranes in her hospital bed, praying for world peace. Sadako died when she was only 12, before she could finish 1,000 cranes.

As a tribute to Sadako’s life and selfless wishes, her classmates folded the remaining cranes, and Sadako Sasaki was buried with the full 1,000 cranes. Her story stands as an inspiration to all, and a testament to the continued power of the paper crane as a compelling symbol for hope, love, honor, and peace.