+
Most Shared

Check out one guy's daily journal made entirely of paper cranes.

Some people like to journal their thoughts. This artist decided he'd rather fold his.

GIF via Matthias Brown.


A year ago, Cristian Marianciuc was experiencing a feeling many of us are familiar with: 2014 was coming to a close, and he was wishing he'd done more with his time.

But 2015 was going to be different. He was going to make it count, and he was going to do it through a journal — although it wouldn't be your typical journal.

On Jan. 1, 2015, he started his own daily journal and named it the 365 Origami Crane Project.

Using paper, colors, textures, and light, he began to describe his daily thoughts — from philosophy to what was for lunch — in the form of paper cranes.

Marianciuc shared 11 of them with me, along with their official titles and his thinking behind them. They're beautiful.

1. Obscure Glimmer

All photos used with permission of Cristian Marianciuc.

"There is a silver lining in everything. And if you can't see one, then make one up."

2. Wire Me to Your Heart

"A warm breeze outside and, in the air, the feeling that this autumn is full of good things. My face is itchy; I am growing a beard again."

3. Fortress of Regrets

"Sunny morning, ready for a well-deserved break. Brushing off nagging regrets."

4. Give Me Back the Night


"I cannot even remember the last time I was able to lie down in bed, before falling asleep, and not be bombarded by thoughts and faces and 'what ifs.'"

5. Flickers


"Woke up with a severe feeling of being out of place."

6. Vivid Dreams

"Lately I have been having extremely vivid dreams, and I even manage to remember most of them once I wake up."

7. Running on Fumes

"I have been put into a not-unpleasant state of numbness from the humming of the generator ... we are out of electricity again. Things that would otherwise go unnoticed come to the forefront these days, which is good, I think."

8. Premonition

"There is something in the air, a sense of expectation, a silent preparation for something momentous."

9. Silence is Golden

"I have a long way to go in learning to keep to myself and just observe things unfold as they are meant to."

10. Cristian and the Cranes

"In the past couple of days, I had the pleasure of telling a number of people a few things about this project. It's a quiet afternoon, my room smells like Mi Goreng instant noodles and mandarine."

11. Surrender

"I woke up today to the most gloriously warm morning. But as the day progressed, clouds came in, it all became dark and menacing. All I could do was to surrender! And I love the feeling of letting go."

These are just 11 out of more than 300 amazing cranes he's created so far.

Many can be found on his Instagram. Some took 10 minutes to make, some took all afternoon. Marianciuc says, "Looking back at my cranes, I can, at a glance, remember at least a tiny detail about the day in which it was made. And that makes me emotional, but also extremely thankful."

When I asked what inspired him to make paper cranes, I wasn't expecting to be so moved by his answer.

He was inspired by the touching story of Sadako Sasaki, a young girl who lived in Hiroshima in 1945, when the atomic bomb was dropped. She survived but was diagnosed with leukemia a decade later. In the hospital, she embarked on a quest to fold 1,000 paper cranes in order to be granted a wish, but never reached that mark.

And then it got personal with the loss of his sister.

"One of my sisters was also too eager to pick up her wings, and, at the hand of leukemia, left us some years ago," he said.

To honor his sister, Sadako Sasaki, and to push himself to be more present in 2015, he started his origami adventure.

What a cool project. And even though 2015 is approaching an end, Cristian has decided his paper cranes won't stop.

He's going for that big number: 1,000, so that he can too, be granted a wish in the end. Just like his inspiration Sadako Sasaki sought out to do so long ago.

@thehalfdeaddad/TikTok

Dad on TikTok shared how he addressed his son's bullying.

What do you do when you find out your kid bullied someone? For many parents, the first step is forcing an apology. While this response is of course warranted, is it really effective? Some might argue that there are more constructive ways of handling the situation that teach a kid not only what they did wrong, but how to make things right again.

Single dadPatrick Forseth recently shared how he made a truly teachable moment out of his son, Lincoln, getting into trouble for bullying. Rather than forcing an apology, Forseth made sure his son was actively part of a solution.


The thought process behind his decision, which he explained in a now-viral TikTok video, is both simple and somewhat racial compared to how many parents have been encouraged to handle similar situations.
Keep ReadingShow less
Family

Badass bikers show up for abused children, offering advocacy and protection

They become an abused child's "biker family," and they let the child—and everyone else—know that NO ONE messes with their family.

When you are a child who has been abused by people who are supposed to protect you, how do you feel safe?

That question is the heart of Bikers Against Child Abuse International (B.A.C.A.), an organization dedicated to creating "a safer environment for abused children." With specific training and extensive security checks, the frequently big and burly members of B.A.C.A. serve as protectors of chid abuse survivors, giving vulnerable children people to call on when they feel scared, and even showing up in court when a child asks them to.

Keep ReadingShow less
Photo by Igor Ferreira on Unsplash

Florida principal fired after showing statue of "David."

If you ask most teachers why they went into education, they'll share that it had nothing to do with the money and everything to do with their passion for teaching. Even with rapid changes in curriculum and policies, teachers who remain in the classroom are lovers of education and are doing their best to help kids learn.

Hope Carrasquilla, the former principal of Florida's Tallahassee Classical School, was one of those teachers who simply enjoyed teaching. As the principal, Carrasquilla was required to teach two classes. During her sixth grade lesson about Renaissance art, which is also a requirement of the school, Carrasquilla showed a picture of Michelangelo's "David" statue.

According to the Tallahassee Democrat, three parents complained about their children being shown the picture. Two of those parents were mostly upset that there wasn't sufficient notice given before the photo of the sculpture was shown. The third parent reportedly complained that the statue of the Biblical figure was pornographic.

Keep ReadingShow less

When Qatar's Mutaz Essa Barshim and Italy's Gianmarco Tamberi both landed their high jumps at 2.37 meters, they were in the battle for Olympic gold. But when both jumpers missed the next mark—the Olympic record of 2.39 meters—three times each, they were officially tied for first place.

In such a tie, the athletes would usually do a "jump-off" to determine who wins gold and who wins silver. But as the official began to explain the options to Barshim and Tamberi, Barshim asked, "Can we have two golds?"

Keep ReadingShow less
via YouTube

These days, we could all use something to smile about, and few things do a better job at it than watching actor Christopher Walken dance.

A few years back, some genius at HuffPo Entertainment put together a clip featuring Walken dancing in 50 of his films, and it was taken down. But it re-emerged in 2014 and the world has been a better place for it.

Keep ReadingShow less

English metal detector hobbyist finds a real treasure near Nottingham.

A retired merchant navy engineer in England has found a treasure that would have made his country’s most popular folk hero proud. Graham Harrison, a 64-year-old metal detector enthusiast, discovered a gold signet ring that once belonged to the Sheriff of Nottingham.

The discovery was made on a farm in Rushcliffe, Nottinghamshire, 26.9 miles from Sherwood Forest. The forest is known worldwide for being the mythological home of Robin Hood and his band of Merry Men. A central road that traversed the forest was notorious in Medieval times for being an easy place for bandits to rob travelers going to and from London.

Keep ReadingShow less