Emily's tattoo...

"I got my tattoo because of my unyielding beliefs of peace and interdependence.  It is a simple, exquisite symbol of peace.  As a social work student who works for a non-profit organization, I meet people on a daily basis from all walks of life.  I learn so much from them; we have a give and take relationship.  We depend on each other to be givers of peace.  We are our brother and sister's keeper.   Additionally, I wanted my crane to be a reminder of peace within the self.  A paper crane is only a piece of paper, a simple object manipulated in to beauty, my tattoo is also an ode to creativity.  As for the design of the tattoo, it is a custom design, I haven't seen any identical to it.  I just wanted clean, black lines to create a simple, humble image."

(I am Emily from St. Paul, MN)

Peace on many levels

"Four years ago this December my boyfriend went off to join the army with the promise that when he came back home he would marry me. He made me promise him that I would fold him 1000 paper cranes and keep him safe so he could come home to me. Well, I didn't keep my promise. I folded 914 cranes in the first three years (I know I'm slow) and I never finished. James died January 9th of this year. I finished folding his cranes and his parents let me burn them at his funeral. I imprinted it in my skin to let everyone know that James will always be with me, until the day I die no matter what happens. It scares me to believe that if I had finished folding them, maybe he would have come home to me."



This is the tattoo. It goes from just under Cassidy's arm to her hip. It is a little hard to see that immediately but for modesty's sake, this is the shot of this beautiful tattoo.

Some of the stories that I expect are about working toward world peace... peace among people. This story is a story about peace with one's self. We are honored to have heard it.

Emma's tat

After finding the site, Emma (ZOO) wondered how she could post. Easy! Email me the pic and story!

It seems that Emma's loving husband has folded paper cranes for her since they first met. What a great thing. I love love! Below is a pic of her tat. He'll have a matching one soon!

Join the movement. Celebrate love, peace, creativity!

Origami on TED

Nick Gehlhausen-Indianapolis, IN

Been meditating and keep remembering the line from a hymn, “Let there be peace
on Earth and let it begin with me.” I am left believing that I can make a
difference by contemplating peace. Thoughts lead to actions which may make an
impact. As there are monks who pray for humanity and there are holy men who
dream of Nirvana, my impression is that by treating my soul as an instrument
from which the song for peace will ring out to others, mankind will benefit.
The connection of me to all the Earth. The ego and the divine are not
separate. Tapping into the core of life, that energy which stimulates and
attracts is a concept worth exploration. Not to be an evangelist and bring
others with me but to remain calm and joyful in this life. I will benefit as
I become more aware of myself, my actions do make a difference. But that is
not the most powerful impetus. It is to harmonize with existence, becoming a
true creature of nature without the cloak of modernity as a costume, distorting what is real.
The tattoo is just a physical reminder of this.

A beginning...

Some weeks ago I decided that I wanted to get a new tattoo... well, a thousand new tattoos. I wanted to get 1000 paper cranes tattooed on my body as a statement about world peace. It seemed like a good idea at the time and even a few of my friends agreed. Then I met a new friend who I will refer to as Ryan since that is his name. I was introduced to him by another friend, Keverlee.

Over some great Indian cuisine we were discussing tattoos and I shared my plan. Ryan shared that he didn't think I have enough real estate for all those birds unless they were so small as to be unidentifiable. After some discussion we somehow got this idea of finding 997 other people to get a tattoo of a paper crane. Those 997 plus the three of us would make a network of 1000 peace advocates. If we took those thousand people and collected their stories and pictures of their tattoos and maybe even videos about their work we would have a pretty powerful force for peace.

I know there has been at least one project like this that I found online but I can't seem to figure out how to get in touch with the person.

The plan for the work is to have this blog set up such that folks getting the ink can post their stories, the artists doing the work can have a way to show a portfolio of their completed pieces, and, possibly most importantly, all of us can create a place where our little bits of work towards peace can pick up new energy, more momentum and eventually see a world celebrating peace.

There will be more to come. Ryan, Keverlee and I will be getting our ink done soon and hopefully find thousands of you to get another, a first, or an only tattoo in support of the family of the Earth growing closer together.

Thank you for being here.