I am pleasantly freaking out right now
I’m wondering what you all are thinking
I’m wondering if I’m gonna get emotional
during this talk I might and I wonder
what you guys are gonna think about that
but I know it’s just my mind doing its
thing so I’m pleasantly freaking out
that’s what I started talking calling my
fears this year in January 2017 I
started a project to fold paper cranes
there’s a lot of drama going on in the
world at that time and I just didn’t
want to sit around and complain and
complain and complain but I was
frustrated finding a place for my voice
so I read the book Sadako and the
thousand paper cranes
it’s a story based on the life of a
young Japanese girl who whose family
survived the hiroshima bomb and when she
was growing up she was diagnosed with
what they were calling the atomic bomb
disease leukemia and she was given less
than a year to live and when she was in
the hospital she was reminded of the
Japanese tradition of folding a thousand
paper cranes to get your wish for health
and for life and so she started folding
and as I read more about her family and
the people of Hiroshima I got further
inspired because the people of Hiroshima
could have a reason or two to be angry
but they’re focused on having different
conversations conversations for peace
and education and that got me shifting
my thinking about my world what if I
started having different conversations
instead of being drawn into complaining
and into that realm of I’m not going to
talk to you because you’re one of them
whatever them is for you or for me and
I’m embarrassed to say I have a couple
of themes
but what if I was started asking people
what they want to create in the world
what they want for their families in
their communities and for the world
I might actually find out we have more
in common than I initially realized
that’s a place where my voice fits
unfortunately Sadako passed away but her
friends and classmates were inspired by
her story and her courage and they
raised funds to create a memorial to all
the children that died of the effects of
the atomic bomb and that statue stands
in the more peace memorial park in
Hiroshima and that Sadako on top
releasing a crane so this is what I was
going to do I was inspired by the book
so I’m gonna fold a thousand paper
cranes I’m gonna sneak over to Hiroshima
I’m gonna fold him throw him under a
tree then I’m gonna sneak back to
America and I’m not going to tell
anybody I’m going to keep it a secret
because you know that way if I fail
nobody’s going to know and I realized
that that’s how all of my past ideas
even the smallest passion just slowly
died because I kept it to myself so I
decided to have a conversation I called
my friend Shannon and I invited her and
her daughter to join me in this project
and that’s when my first huge figure
came up like are they gonna think it’s
stupid or weird or silly and I got so
emotional and it kind of freaked me out
because I didn’t realize it was that
emotional and I could barely get the
invitation out but when I finally did
they were like yeah let’s do this and so
that’s when we became three friends
folding a thousand paper cranes inviting
others to fold another thousand paper
cranes so that we could take two
thousand paper cranes to peace day in
Hiroshima on August 6 2017 and I was
okay with that for about a week and then
I realized 2,000 cranes that’s kind of
easy
I like we could do that ourselves what’s
gonna stretch our comfort zone a little
bit what’s going to really like push the
like what’s that number it’s like five
thousand a hundred thousand and then all
of a sudden it popped in my head what
about a thousand thousands and then it
was like wait how many zeros is that I
was like oh that’s a million and that
got my heart beating again and so I knew
that I was on to something so another
conversation needs to be add okay
Shannon let’s just do this that’s let’s
throw it way out there and let’s just
see where this adventure takes us it’s
gonna make us have to talk to somebody
and so we started so we started sharing
with people little fears came up and the
more we had conversations those fears
disappeared and that’s when we started
the project in the folds of peace 1
million cranes one crane one wish for
peace and one conversation at a time and
we started sharing we service people
around us I folded cranes on planes
especially if I was nervous about
talking to the person next to me and I
would just keep folding and folding and
folding and folding and usually someone
in the row would be like those are
really beautiful is that for a project
or something and I was like as a matter
of fact it is you want to fold one and
so I get to teach them how to fold a
crane and we’d have conversations for
about what we want in the world and like
who would think these little guys these
little pieces of paper would give me
permission to talk to strangers and I
get to have these conversations and I’d
get to learn about what people want for
their families like happiness and ease
for their family in life or what people
walk for the world like for everybody to
go to bed with a full stomach or to go
to have a bed to go to and to be able to
support their families and then cranes
would randomly arrive in the mail one
crane came in from a woman in Phoenix it
had a simple wish it was folded by her
son several years earlier and she said
please take this crane to Hiroshima with
a wish for my son to have peace with
what he’s going through in life like
those kind of things are like
have been the priceless things in this
project so I told my friend Yoshi Coe
about the project she was born and
raised in Japan and she said this is a
really beautiful project I don’t think
you get how big it’s going to get or
what it means coming from the United
States
and going to Japan and that got my head
going but not as much as when her
parents came for a visit her dad found a
box of cranes in my studio and brought
it to the table and he said I heard a
little bit about your your project but I
want to hear from you what it’s about
and why and so I explained how it
started what we’re doing the
conversations we wanted to have and he
just nodded and he said as a Japanese
person I thank you for doing this
project and if you don’t think that got
this framed going crazy after they left
it was saying things like dude this is
too big you can’t do this you’re gonna
disappoint people in two countries now
you need to stop and I knew that that
was just fear and I knew I just needed
to have another conversation so I talked
to my friends and just let the emotions
come up and that fear just slowly faded
away at the beginning of July 2017 we
had about 2,000 cranes and then they
started arriving they came from New
Mexico they came from New Mexico
Arizona California Washington Illinois
upstate New York
my brain is prepared for 2,000 plates it
was not the conversation I was like
Shannon I am so glad we didn’t get a
million cranes this year I am freaking
out so we figured out how to get them to
lie flat got them in a box in a duffel
bag and the rest of my luggage and on
August 6th 2017 we took 10,000 228 paper
cranes to Hershey Hiroshima Japan for a
peace day it was a really beautiful
experience many little miracles that day
Yoshi goes friend flew down from Tokyo
to escort us around make sure our first
trip went well he got us to the peace
ceremony where we were interviewed by a
local documentary crew we dropped off
some grains we were even stopped by a
local high school kids asking us how
they could continue spreading the
message of peace in the world and we
talked about our project and about
continuing to have conversations with
each other so it’s only been a month
since our trip and we already have 2,000
cranes that have arrived never prepared
we’re prepared to have a million bye
peace day August 6 2018 and we say that
the project is going to end when we
reach a million cranes but that’s not
true when I read Sadako and the thousand
paper cranes and I folded my first paper
crane I never thought I’d be standing
talking about taking ten thousand paper
cranes and then moving towards a million
so who knows where this projects going
to evolve by the time that millionth
crane arrives so we invite you to join
us
fold a paper crane or to talk to each
other about what we want to create in
the world but more than that find
something that interests you and step
towards it and when fear starts
your mind freaking out just know it’s
not gonna kill you
you’re just pleasantly freaking out and
have that next conversation that needs
to be had and most of all if you need to
fold one of these little guys and let it
help you talk to strangers
[Applause]
I’m wondering what you all are thinking
I’m wondering if I’m gonna get emotional
during this talk I might and I wonder
what you guys are gonna think about that
but I know it’s just my mind doing its
thing so I’m pleasantly freaking out
that’s what I started talking calling my
fears this year in January 2017 I
started a project to fold paper cranes
there’s a lot of drama going on in the
world at that time and I just didn’t
want to sit around and complain and
complain and complain but I was
frustrated finding a place for my voice
so I read the book Sadako and the
thousand paper cranes
it’s a story based on the life of a
young Japanese girl who whose family
survived the hiroshima bomb and when she
was growing up she was diagnosed with
what they were calling the atomic bomb
disease leukemia and she was given less
than a year to live and when she was in
the hospital she was reminded of the
Japanese tradition of folding a thousand
paper cranes to get your wish for health
and for life and so she started folding
and as I read more about her family and
the people of Hiroshima I got further
inspired because the people of Hiroshima
could have a reason or two to be angry
but they’re focused on having different
conversations conversations for peace
and education and that got me shifting
my thinking about my world what if I
started having different conversations
instead of being drawn into complaining
and into that realm of I’m not going to
talk to you because you’re one of them
whatever them is for you or for me and
I’m embarrassed to say I have a couple
of themes
but what if I was started asking people
what they want to create in the world
what they want for their families in
their communities and for the world
I might actually find out we have more
in common than I initially realized
that’s a place where my voice fits
unfortunately Sadako passed away but her
friends and classmates were inspired by
her story and her courage and they
raised funds to create a memorial to all
the children that died of the effects of
the atomic bomb and that statue stands
in the more peace memorial park in
Hiroshima and that Sadako on top
releasing a crane so this is what I was
going to do I was inspired by the book
so I’m gonna fold a thousand paper
cranes I’m gonna sneak over to Hiroshima
I’m gonna fold him throw him under a
tree then I’m gonna sneak back to
America and I’m not going to tell
anybody I’m going to keep it a secret
because you know that way if I fail
nobody’s going to know and I realized
that that’s how all of my past ideas
even the smallest passion just slowly
died because I kept it to myself so I
decided to have a conversation I called
my friend Shannon and I invited her and
her daughter to join me in this project
and that’s when my first huge figure
came up like are they gonna think it’s
stupid or weird or silly and I got so
emotional and it kind of freaked me out
because I didn’t realize it was that
emotional and I could barely get the
invitation out but when I finally did
they were like yeah let’s do this and so
that’s when we became three friends
folding a thousand paper cranes inviting
others to fold another thousand paper
cranes so that we could take two
thousand paper cranes to peace day in
Hiroshima on August 6 2017 and I was
okay with that for about a week and then
I realized 2,000 cranes that’s kind of
easy
I like we could do that ourselves what’s
gonna stretch our comfort zone a little
bit what’s going to really like push the
like what’s that number it’s like five
thousand a hundred thousand and then all
of a sudden it popped in my head what
about a thousand thousands and then it
was like wait how many zeros is that I
was like oh that’s a million and that
got my heart beating again and so I knew
that I was on to something so another
conversation needs to be add okay
Shannon let’s just do this that’s let’s
throw it way out there and let’s just
see where this adventure takes us it’s
gonna make us have to talk to somebody
and so we started so we started sharing
with people little fears came up and the
more we had conversations those fears
disappeared and that’s when we started
the project in the folds of peace 1
million cranes one crane one wish for
peace and one conversation at a time and
we started sharing we service people
around us I folded cranes on planes
especially if I was nervous about
talking to the person next to me and I
would just keep folding and folding and
folding and folding and usually someone
in the row would be like those are
really beautiful is that for a project
or something and I was like as a matter
of fact it is you want to fold one and
so I get to teach them how to fold a
crane and we’d have conversations for
about what we want in the world and like
who would think these little guys these
little pieces of paper would give me
permission to talk to strangers and I
get to have these conversations and I’d
get to learn about what people want for
their families like happiness and ease
for their family in life or what people
walk for the world like for everybody to
go to bed with a full stomach or to go
to have a bed to go to and to be able to
support their families and then cranes
would randomly arrive in the mail one
crane came in from a woman in Phoenix it
had a simple wish it was folded by her
son several years earlier and she said
please take this crane to Hiroshima with
a wish for my son to have peace with
what he’s going through in life like
those kind of things are like
have been the priceless things in this
project so I told my friend Yoshi Coe
about the project she was born and
raised in Japan and she said this is a
really beautiful project I don’t think
you get how big it’s going to get or
what it means coming from the United
States
and going to Japan and that got my head
going but not as much as when her
parents came for a visit her dad found a
box of cranes in my studio and brought
it to the table and he said I heard a
little bit about your your project but I
want to hear from you what it’s about
and why and so I explained how it
started what we’re doing the
conversations we wanted to have and he
just nodded and he said as a Japanese
person I thank you for doing this
project and if you don’t think that got
this framed going crazy after they left
it was saying things like dude this is
too big you can’t do this you’re gonna
disappoint people in two countries now
you need to stop and I knew that that
was just fear and I knew I just needed
to have another conversation so I talked
to my friends and just let the emotions
come up and that fear just slowly faded
away at the beginning of July 2017 we
had about 2,000 cranes and then they
started arriving they came from New
Mexico they came from New Mexico
Arizona California Washington Illinois
upstate New York
my brain is prepared for 2,000 plates it
was not the conversation I was like
Shannon I am so glad we didn’t get a
million cranes this year I am freaking
out so we figured out how to get them to
lie flat got them in a box in a duffel
bag and the rest of my luggage and on
August 6th 2017 we took 10,000 228 paper
cranes to Hershey Hiroshima Japan for a
peace day it was a really beautiful
experience many little miracles that day
Yoshi goes friend flew down from Tokyo
to escort us around make sure our first
trip went well he got us to the peace
ceremony where we were interviewed by a
local documentary crew we dropped off
some grains we were even stopped by a
local high school kids asking us how
they could continue spreading the
message of peace in the world and we
talked about our project and about
continuing to have conversations with
each other so it’s only been a month
since our trip and we already have 2,000
cranes that have arrived never prepared
we’re prepared to have a million bye
peace day August 6 2018 and we say that
the project is going to end when we
reach a million cranes but that’s not
true when I read Sadako and the thousand
paper cranes and I folded my first paper
crane I never thought I’d be standing
talking about taking ten thousand paper
cranes and then moving towards a million
so who knows where this projects going
to evolve by the time that millionth
crane arrives so we invite you to join
us
fold a paper crane or to talk to each
other about what we want to create in
the world but more than that find
something that interests you and step
towards it and when fear starts
your mind freaking out just know it’s
not gonna kill you
you’re just pleasantly freaking out and
have that next conversation that needs
to be had and most of all if you need to
fold one of these little guys and let it
help you talk to strangers
[Applause]
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