day 60 - witnessing

"The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command." 

- George Orwell, 1984

Witnessing goes beyond seeing. It asks me to stand firmly present in a moment — joyful or uncomfortable.

It asks that I remember, honor, and perhaps even speak on behalf of what deserves to be acknowledged or what must not be forgotten. 

Today I'm practicing witnessing by staying rooted — to expose and humanize truth, and also to rejoice in the astounding unfolding of life.

Ema by hiroko_daichan origami and tree by origaminojikan, both on YouTube

day 59 - intervention

Origami embodies nonviolence through intervention. 

It's a gentle, intentional art that changes something — a piece of paper, a mood, a mind, a space — without aggression. 

It can take grand forms, like the 1000 cranes installations in Hiroshima, displayed in a public memorial space dedicated to honoring and healing, inspiring reflection and solidarity.  

But it can also be:

Symbolic: Folded hearts or flowers left in public spaces for people to find, or community garlands made for a cause.

Environmental: Transforming waste materials into decorative or useful objects, or using compostable and recycled materials as an intervention against overconsumption.

Personal/Mindful: Origami can interrupt spirals of stress. Each deliberate fold is a mini-training in nonviolent, thoughtful intervention.

Social: Origami fosters connection, cooperation, empathy and communication. It can express care or solidarity when words fall short.

Today I'm practicing intervention by letting the deliberate, mindful, act of folding shift my own mental state.

day 58 - citizenship

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." 

- Margaret Mead

How we approach citizenship is how we share space, handle conflict, and shape what we all live with. 

To that end, nonviolence isn’t necessarily avoiding disagreement. Often, it's finding ways of changing things in ways that don’t destroy the people and systems we will still be in relationship with after.

Similarly, when I fold, I can’t force the paper without weakening it. I have to work with the constraints of the pattern and material limits. 

Respect them, and my actions support a beautiful end result. Disregard them, and both the form and the pleasure fail.

You could say life comes to us “pre-folded” with our country's unique history, laws, and tensions — we don’t start with a blank sheet. As such, if citizenship is our part in the shared shape of things, nonviolence is how we change that shape without breaking it. 

Today I'm practicing nonviolent citizenship by attending to the way I participate when there is disagreement in my community.

day 57 - service

An umbrella can provide shelter from the rain — it can also block out the sun.

The same object, the same gesture — helpful or harmful depending on what is actually needed.

In nonviolence, service isn't about rushing in to provide what makes me feel useful, it's more like attending to the changing weather of someone else's life. 

Sometimes a person, or a situation, needs cover. Sometimes they need warmth, light, and space. If I open the umbrella without really paying attention, I might protect or I might dim what's helping them grow.

Service needs to be responsive, attentive to the moment and the person standing in it.

Today I'm practicing asking what's needed before offering solutions.

Umbrella by origaminojikan on YouTube

day 56 - self-sufficiency

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."

- Theodore Roosevelt

Self-sufficiency is providing for myself, and trusting that I can work with what I have.

I have folded the masu box so many times I know the sequence by heart. Still, it never ceases to amaze me. 

The folding pleases me because it feels so elegant and efficient. 

Plus, the uses are practically endless — from biodegradable bone-catchers destined for the compost bin on wing night, to pretty desk organizers and gift boxes, I can no longer imagine my life without knowing how to make these. 

There's a quiet confidence in knowing that I can turn almost nothing into something useful — that I can meet a small, real need with my own hands, and that I have the ability to customize the measure of what that needs to be.

The paper I chose for this box features the traditional Asanoha pattern which represents the hemp leaf: vigorous, resilient and able to meet a multitude of human needs.

Today I'm practicing self-sufficiency by affirming: I can produce what I need, measure what is enough, and carry it myself.

day 55 - responsibility

"There is fortune in leftovers." 

- Japanese Saying

Responsibility starts with stewardship — recognizing what is and isn't mine to carry. 

This little pouch, called a Fukubukuro or Lucky Bag feels like a symbol of what I hold: choices, responses, care, and consequences.

Today I'm practicing responsibility by asking myself two questions: 

When I'm "left holding the bag," what happens to my compassion? 

And "What have I been entrusted with, by choice or by circumstance, and how do I want to carry it?"

day 54 - giving

"It's not how much we give but how much love we put into giving."

- Mother Teresa

Giving is about what leaves my hands. It's also about the attention I bring to the offering.

This pretty box was folded for a celebration and will hold something small but meaningful. It has been lovingly shaped to honor both what's inside, and my esteem for the receiver. 

Today I'm practicing giving by reflecting on what it means to wrap something — an object, a moment, or even a feeling — with care.