Thinking on all the lessons that I have learned from practicing origami, the simplest and most profound has been from junk-folding. Junk-folding is the practice of finding junk paper like old receipts and fliers for origami. Any sheet of paper that has lost its original purpose and has become trash can be considered junk paper. When one takes this paper and re-purposes it, they are taking trash and turning it into something beautiful, and with very little effort.
It is by no means a lesson unique to origami, and many origami practitioners never use junk paper and so then the lesson may be lost on them, but for me it is an ever-present truth. I love folding in public spaces, but rarely carry paper with me. That means I hunt for paper that is looking for a new life. This constant searching for renewal reflects an aspect of reality. Nothing ever ceases to exist, it is only re-purposed. We must keep in mind that the only way to get rid of something bad is to transform it into something good!
[The image is my own, of a model I folded. I do not know who designed it]
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