What You Are Looking for is in the Library

by Michiko Aoyama

most of the time we humans only look at the flowers or fruit of a plant, because we live aboveground. We switch our attention to belowground only when the roots have a particular interest for us, as in the case of sweet potatoes or carrots. Yet from a plant’s perspective, aboveground and belowground are both equally important and in perfect balance.

It feels good to be sitting here drinking coffee and watching cats, surrounded by books.

“But I meet people here I wouldn’t otherwise and have some really interesting encounters. It’s like traveling to lots of different places every day. I might be in here all the time and never go out, but I get as much enjoyment out of it as I would from, say, a pastime like fishing.”

“Everybody is connected. And any one of their connections could be the start of a network that branches in many directions. If you wait for the right time to make connections, it might never happen, but if you show your face around, talk to people and see enough to give you the confidence that things could work out, then ‘one day’ might turn into ‘tomorrow.’”

“You may say that it was the book, but it’s how you read a book that is most valuable, rather than any power it might have itself.”

“You were the only one at school who ever said I could do it. You told me my novels were interesting, and I should keep writing. You’ve probably forgotten it, but I never did. It kept me going. Having somebody who believed in me was the best lucky charm ever.”

How much had my own thinking limited my opportunities?

Things happen as a result of our points of connection, in the past and in the future.”

Yet each reader can have their own interpretation, which is a good thing.

Readers make their own personal connections to words, irrespective of the writer’s intentions, and each reader gains something unique.”