The principle of Yin and Yang is a fundamental concept in Chinese philosophy and culture in general dating from the third century BCE or even earlier. This principle is that all things exist as inseparable and contradictory opposites, for example female-male, dark-light and old-young:

Right now I am trying to balance rest with exhaustion due to a punishing marking schedule. The Yang is winning over the Yin at the moment.

This elegant and paper-hungry model arrived as part of my subscription to “The Paper” – the official publication of Origami USA, of which I am a member, and solves the problem of “what the floop will I fold today” rather nicely.

Made for bicolour paper, it collapses a colour-changed pinwheel and then tidies up the flaps to create the rough shape. I say it is paper hungry as the initial sheet was 17cm square, the resultant model is about 5cm across.

Balance is important – creative vs drudgery, teaching vs assessing, work vs play. We all deserve a little balance in our lives.