"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.
“The way you do anything is the way you do everything.”- Thich Nhat Hanh
Honor in origami is how I treat what’s been entrusted to me.
Every choice — the paper, the pattern, the folds, the time — matters.
Each square, each hand that will receive it, each minute spent folding is part of the offering.
Today, I’m practicing honor by giving this practice—and the sharing of it—the care, gratitude, and attention it deserves.
"The Eskimo has 52 words for snow because it is important to them; there ought to be as many for love."
-Margaret Atwood
Love isn’t always fancy champagne and roses.
Often, it looks like care repeated in small, ordinary ways.
In this quote, Margaret Atwood reflects on how language reveals what we value.
While academics debate the exact number of words for snow in Inuit languages, the deeper truth remains: when something matters, we learn to speak of it with nuance and fluency.
In the language of flowers, the carnation symbolizes love and care in all their forms — romantic, familial, and platonic — as well as remembrance, devotion, and even quiet resistance.
Today, I’m practicing love by showing up where I care, with affection and consistency.
Want all kinds of origami love? Explore my 14-post series #initforallthelove here on One Love Origami.
"There is a way of beholding nature that is itself a form of prayer."
- Diane Ackerman
Prayer, for me, isn't usually about asking for things.
(Though sometimes it is.)
More often, it feels like reverent attention - a pause in which I listen rather than speak. And somehow, that listening transforms things.
Folding gives my hands something to do while my thoughts settle. Each crease accompanies a slow breath. Each turn of the paper gathers intention.
This lotus-like bud feels like an offering - something I can cradle in my hands that stands in for longing, or gratitude, or emotions too nebulous for words.
The open space on the tag above it becomes a place for whatever wishes to be spoken aloud... or only held in the heart - a small altar where fears and dreams can rest side by side.
Today I am practicing prayer through making - one small gesture within an ongoing exploration of how attention itself becomes devotion.
Inspiration:
Without inspiration, nonviolence can shrink into:
With inspiration, nonviolence is creative, spacious, and alive. Structured but not rigid.
This small origami form began with an ordinary square. Fueled by inspiration, cut to a pentagon and folded with care it became extraordinary!
Today I'm practicing inspiration by asking:
What else is possible here?
What more beautiful response could exist?
Full disclosure - Chat GPT helped me with this "product photo". In real life, the frame is flatter but the roses really are that dimensional and pretty!
I've been playing with origami versions for years now, so I thought I'd share a couple with you.
Do you wear brooches?
What's your favorite way to style them?
Would you wear an origami brooch?
Day 6) Recycled Paper Seed Packet (origin unknown)
Origami is so useful for nature lovers, gardeners and tree huggers.
These resealable packets can be made out of just about any reclaimed paper you have at hand with just a folded square, no tape or glue.
They can be customized to any size and they’re biodegradable.
Best of all, they can save your precious heritage seeds over winter until it’s time to gently tap them out into the sunny soil.
The marigold represents resilience and plasticity, attributes I greatly admire and aim to embody in this life. I’ve been saving and planting seeds from my yoga teacher’s meditation garden for more than 15 years now, always accompanied with chants for world peace.
Beautiful plants and humble weeds, I love you! I am nourished by and bewitched by you. Thank you so much for your perennial promise and your bountiful gifts.
Peace!
In the Victorian language of flowers, yellow lilies represent thankfulness, joy and friendship, and orange lilies represent energy and confidence.
I offer this Valentine’s bouquet to all of my friends, past, present and future.
I love and cherish each and every one of you and thank you for all the ways you bring beauty, joy and positive energy into my life.
You offer such warm encouragement, sparkling inspiration and sense of belonging! With you I feel attuned and affirmed, seen and heard.From the bottom of my heart, thank you!
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| Origami Lotus Candle Holder |
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| Origami Lotus with Flower Hair Clip |
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| Pink and Yellow Origami Lotuses |
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| Photo borrowed from Wikipedia |
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| Supplies: Napkins and Battery Operated Tea-light Candle |
