Let's Build Some Rafts Together
I'll meet you at the library
This is not the post I had planned to write today. I had outlined a terrific post about how to analyze potential jobs, something that is so relevant for so many of us. But all the recent news has really done me in.
Instead of jobs, I’ve been thinking a lot this week about penguins and libraries.
But first, let’s reflect on the past year for context. Much of the news has been incredibly challenging. There’s the global conflicts in Gaza, Ukraine, Venezuela and Greenland. Then there’s Jerome Powell, tariffs, vaccines, measles, and all the lawsuits. And then there’s ICE. My mind really can’t grasp it all without exploding.
So many of us are stuggling to process everything, to make sense of it, to look for the silver linings. I’ve found no silver linings. Instead, I wake up and try not to dwell on the headlines. Yes, I realize our negativity bias makes us fixate longer on the bad news stories.
I know this. And I know the world is not as bad as it currently feels. I read the research about how most of the world is better off now than ever before. And I know that as an upper-middle class, white, female, I am largely insulated from the current traumas of the world. I am safer than most.
And yet, I’m still feeling it. I’m aching for the familes of Renee Good and Alex Pretti and for all of Minneapolis. In 2025, 31 people died in ICE custody. I’m very concerned about how weak our democracy is right now. The checks and balances are not checking and balancing.
Because I’m a highly sensitive orchid and my nervous system is already fragile, I haven’t watched any of the Minnesota videos. But I’ve read the basic facts. Which makes me feel so helpless and sad. Even writing that, I recognize how inadequate my words are for this. I have nothing sufficiently wise or insightful or profound to say about this moment in time.
I want to find some inspiring quote from Mister Rogers, something about looking for the helpers, because there are always people who are helping. But even that sounds trite and cliched. Every single thing I could possibly write seems absolutely inadquate for this unprecendented time. It’s the despair and helplessness that does me in.
I woke up recently thinking about penguins. When I visited Australia a few years ago, I had the opportunity to visit Phillip Island, home to the largest little penguin colony in the world. Every evening at dusk, you can go down to the beach and wait for the penguin parade. I was there before sunset, sitting on a row of bleachers, calmly enjoying the peaceful beach, when suddenly thousands of little blue penguins came swimming out of the ocean. All at once, and all together. They just appeared in the water, like a penguin army in formation. They popped up in the water, swam to the beach, then waddled off across the beach into the bushes, where they proceeded to mate and feed and molt. It was one of the most magical things I’ve ever witnessed.
Here’s a quirky language fact: A group of penguins together in the water is called a raft, which referes to their collective group swimming in the ocean. But a group of penguins on land is called a waddle. Their group label changes depending on where they are and how they’re organized. When they’re in the ocean, penguins are incredible vulnerable to predators like fur seals and sharks. Therefore, they form large penguin rafts, in order to stay safe together. A raft of a thousand penguins is much safer than trying to survive the dangerous predators alone.
Before I left Phillip Island, I bought a stuffie of the little blue penguin and I named her Victoria.
I’ve also been thinking lately about libraries, because they’ve been so helpful to provide necessary social services during these challenging times. When I was a kid, libraries were all about books. These days, libraries are about so much more: they loan electronic devices and sporting equipment, they provide language classes, notary services and tax assistance. They act as accessible hubs for education and technology and they provide so many social services to our communities for free. One of my favorite libraries hosts 150 in person events every single month. I think librarians might be the unsung heroes of our time.
And in the amazing book Our Missing Hearts, by Celeste Ng, libraries become the clandestine center of the resistance against a dystopian regime. The libraries serve as an underground network and they keep track of all the censored stories. I’ve been thinking about this book lately, because it’s so timely. Five stars for this book.
More personally, I’ve always had a passion and appreciation for libraries. Many of my treasured childhood memories took place inside Lane Road Library, in Upper Arlington, Ohio. Over the past several years, while traveling with my partner by Airstream, I’ve spent weeks writing in libraries across Colorado, Wyoming and Montana. I can’t imagine living in a world without libraries.
At a very fundamental level, libraries provide free access to knowledge. One could go so far as to say that libraries contribute to the foundation of democracy. Here’s what’s engraved on the external wall of the Wilkinson Public Library, in Telluride, Colorado:
Access to knowledge is the superb, the supreme act of truly great civilizations. Of all the institutions that purport to do this, free libraries stand virtually alone in accomplishing this mission. — Toni Morrison
Sometimes I struggle with how abstract democracy is — it’s really just an idea and experiment about how to organize humanity into a stable and free society. And it seems hard for any one person to make democracy stronger. But libraries - libraries are specific and concrete and local. Libraries are the protectors of our books and our ideas. Libraries enable free thinking and critical thinking. They provide literacy classes and citizenship classes. And they also provide free wifi and a warm place to sit and rest. Libraries can be a safe shelter from the stormy chaos of life.
Which is why I think libraries can be a node in the network of human rafts we build together. The little blue penguin is the world’s smallest penguin and only weighs one kilogram. Although they’re fairly primitive, they’re smart enough to organize themselves into rafts to protect themselves from predators. I say we organize ourselves into rafts to protect ourselves from fascism and tyranny.
Reading the news makes me feel powerless in the face of so much horribleness. And powerlessness leads to despair, a heavy emotion that reduces energy and motivation. Perhaps the antidote is to do something - anything - to feel more powerful. Therefore, I’m making two commitments moving forward:
I will build rafts with the people in my life. I’ll invest my time and energy to stay connected and let them know they’re part of my raft. I’ll do whatever I can to keep us as sane and safe as possible. Even if it’s as simple as sending a random hallmark card, or meeting someone in person for a sanity check, I’ll do whatever I can to build my real life rafts.
I will shine a light on the power of libraries to uphold our democratic ideals, because libraries stand for the dignity and humanity of everyone who lives in our communities. Libraries never turn anyone away. So I’ll take my stuffed penguin Victoria with me to all the libraries I visit, to remind us of the power of community to build rafts together. I will advocate for the value of libraries.
You might want to do different things to overcome despair. You might want to join protests or donate money or call your elected officials. You might want to boycott companies or support companies. I think anything we feel compelled to do is valuable and important. And I believe the more we band together, the stronger we’ll become.
So let’s decide to do something instead of nothing. Let’s be like the little blue penguins and build rafts together to keep ourselves safe and alive, together.
Let’s meet at the library and figure out a plan. It’s free and they have great wifi. You bring some of your friends and I’ll bring Victoria and together we’ll build a raft.
You ARE a sensitive 🌸and I 💕you.
Beautifully written. Touched my heart and it gave me hope. Thank you for sharing