What You Are Looking for is in the Library

by Michiko Aoyama

What I do know is that there’s no need to panic, or do more than I can cope with right now. For the time being, I plan to simply get my life in order and learn some new skills, choosing from what’s available. I’ll prepare myself, like Guri and Gura gathering chestnuts in the forest. Because I never know when I might find my own giant egg.

“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.’”

“Well, raising a child is one new experience after another, isn’t it. You can never really know what it’s like until you’ve been through it. So much turns out to be different than how you imagined.” “Yes, yes, that’s right.” I nodded emphatically several times. Here was somebody who seemed to understand. I felt a trust that made me want to reveal my innermost thoughts to her. “It’s the difference between thinking that Winnie-the-Pooh is cute, and actually living with a bear.” “Wahahahaha!”

Being born is probably the most difficult thing we ever have to do. I am convinced that everything else that comes afterward is nowhere near as hard. If you can survive the ordeal of being born, you can get through anything.”

“Because only the chosen few can make a living from illustrating. Not just illustrating either—probably less than one person in a hundred can turn the thing they like doing into paid work.” Ms Komachi rolls her head again and lifts an index finger. “I’m going to give you a math lesson.” “What?” “In the case of one hundred people, one person out of a hundred is one per cent, correct?” “Yeah.” “But in the case of one person doing the thing they want to do, there is only yourself, which means one person out of one, which is one hundred percent.” “Huh?” “So there’s a hundred percent chance.”