Why cranes?

Somebody asked me, "Why cranes?"

I had been thinking about the number of gun violence deaths in the United States each year, about how hard it was to understand.  I thought that if we had 37,000 of something, anything really, we would be able to see how big that number really is.  I wanted to make it something you could touch, something you could feel.  I wanted to make it something you had to do.

The crane is a symbol of peace and hope.  There is a Japanese tradition of making 1000 origami cranes which are then strung together.  Some  claim that anyone who folds 1000 cranes will be granted a wish.  Some claim that anyone who folds 1000 cranes will get eternal good luck, happiness and freedom from illness and injury.

We wish for an end to gun violence.

With every crane I fold I am thinking about gun violence.  I am setting an intention.  Sometimes I think of my friend Galen.  Sometimes I think of his family.  I think of things I can do, people I can write to and call.  Sometimes when I am folding cranes I am gathering courage to ask the parents of my children's friends if there are guns in the house and how they are stored.  Sometimes I am thinking of the people I don't know, that I will never know.

I feel less hopeless when I am folding cranes. I am taking that time, that moment, to pay attention to gun violence.  

When I make cranes in public I am starting the conversation about gun violence.  It helps turn thoughts and prayers into action.  Make a crane.  Make a phone call.  Write a letter. Call your representative. None of these actions take too long, or too much.  Each small action is part of something bigger.