It’s not just the technical expertise that paper sculpture develops. It’s also one of the few meditative activities that can help you relax, even while you are busily engaged in an activity. To make a fold, you need to press just so hard. Pressing too hard breaks the paper. Too little and the paper remains flat. This simple requirement of the activity forces you to pay attention to the paper under your fingers and forget whatever was racing through your mind. Each type of fold, curl, and layer creates its own kind of motion and with each you develop a sort of paper breathing that feels akin to the sensation of breathing in and out. When folding a crease, you breathe in. As you form the shape, you breathe out. People who fold paper regularly will tell you that when they are in the midst of making something they lose track of time.
A big reason for the healing quality of paper folding is that it’s a very delicate medium. The acceptance of imperfection can be learned much more quickly than through hard, unforgiving mediums such as ceramic or metal. When you make an incorrect crease in paper, you can’t completely remove the crease, so you learn to work with it, and the ‘mistake’ becomes a lovely addition to the design. It is like the unexpected events of life, and it encourages one to develop the strength needed to cope with them. Through the medium, patience develops as well, but not forced patience. It comes naturally as one must wait for the layers to be completed. With time and patience, even the smallest actions create something lovely and strong.
On a psychological level, paper sculpting allows one to feel in control of their process within a confined space. There is no “undo” button, so each crease is counted. You learn to only take risks when you know there is a good chance of success. At the same time, there is little investment involved in the materials, so there is less stress about the outcome. The first few paper sculptures are usually geometric and serve as a great introduction to the method. Eventually, there are curvaceous shapes that require more trust and feel. The increase in problem solving keeps the mind busy but not frustrated.
The sense of calm is also enhanced when people share paper art with others. People may share photos of what they are making, ask for help with a particularly tricky fold, or work together to make something large. Even just looking over someone else’s shoulder or offering words of encouragement as they work helps to foster a sense of community without the need to make eye contact or speak. Some people who attend paper folding sessions regularly report a significant drop in anxiety levels, which they believe is due to both the hands on nature of paper folding and the satisfaction that comes from making something. The finished paper sculpture is tangible evidence of the time spent and effort made.
Finally, paper sculpture encourages us to appreciate the beauty of simplicity in a world where it is easy to get caught up in complexity. It shows us that with a single piece of paper, we can experience something extraordinary, and that we don’t need a lot of special equipment or a big room to have fun. For all of these reasons, paper sculpture can be a very meditative medium. It is something we can do alone, and something we can turn to when we need to relax and unwind. So if you like the idea of meditation, but have trouble sitting still, paper sculpture could be an excellent alternative.