I heard a long time ago that if you could fold a piece of paper 42 times it would be thick enough to reach the moon. This is because each fold doubles the thickness of the last. This supposedly has something to do with it being an exponential or something or other. I say supposedly because when it comes to the understanding of mathematical terms I am limited. I am fantastic at counting apple slices, subtracting oranges and working out how many pieces of pie remain (those that know me well enough understand the answer to the pie remaining question is always zero when I am involved).
I like the idea of 42 folds. I like it because it shows that something that was as seemingly impossible to reach as the moon, is actually no more than 42 moves away. This is something that I do understand. Each impossible feat that we have ever achieved, each trial, tribulation and triumph has been driven by this very simple idea. All that we do and have can be attributed to the folds we have made and all that we will attain will be guided by the creases yet to come. From a blank piece of paper, the folds that we make criss-cross each other and create patterns. Some are weak lines barely used while others that are made repeatedly or close together join to form deep creases and well-worn paths where hundreds of folds have created a valley.
If you look at a major skill you possess and track the folds that have formed its path. It is possible that the very first fold was unintentional, a random experience as a child, an encouraging word from a teacher or an image seen as a book lay open on a table. This created a spark of curiosity which led to the next fold being created until hundreds and thousands of folds on top of each other developed into a specialisation. An engineer, a teacher, an artist.
However each fold hasn't been glued to the last. We can unfold the paper, refold it in another direction, create new valleys of specialisation and we can merge one with another and create connections that grow exponentially. And this is all before we connect with another, study their patterns and see what adds, multiplies and compounds with our own. If we open the once smooth sheet, we can trace our experience through a mapped network that is almost infinite in detail. We can see each fold created and witness our entire experience bound by its sides.
Of course, our life is not found on a piece of paper or bound by its limitations, but none the less the lines exist. They are found in the blueprints of our designs, through the colours of our paintings and in the structures we build. We each make folds that influence our lives, the lives of others and our world as a whole. We have created, destroyed and rebuilt ourselves countless times and will continue to do so for as long as we exist. These folds can be seen on our faces and in our hands and on the faces of those we have interacted with, influenced and made laugh or cry. With these folds we create our world and if today you were given a crisp sheet, which fold would be your first - and how would that affect your choices tomorrow?
Taraz
